Skip to main contentWell, now we know.
Republican Ron Saxton proved unable to overcome a strong wave of anti-GOP sentiment in his bid to unseat Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the Democratic incumbent whose largely lackluster first term made him a fat target.
The re-elected Kulongoski will be working with a Democratic House instead of a Republican House as the R's failed to keep their majority (Senate Democrats easily retained their majority).
The marquee race among the 60 House contests was in District 49, and it turned out to be a good measure of how tough a year it was for Republicans.
As of this morning, powerful House Speaker Karen Minnis (R-Wood Village) was only narrowly leading Democratic challenger Rob Brading despite raising about $1 million.
When it came to the 10 measures on the state ballot, Oregon voters proved picky, rejecting all but three of them.
Closer to Portland, Multnomah County voters chose Jeff Cogen as their newest commissioner on what everybody hopes will be a more effective board; and Portland Public Schools voters approved a local-option levy that backers said was vital to the state's largest school district.
(For the latest statewide numbers, go to http://egov.sos.state.or.us/division/elections/results/. For the latest local numbers, go to http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/elections/2006-11/results.shtml.)
WW sent staff to many of the election-night parties, so read on to learn what we gleaned from all the major candidates and players in Election 2006.
Election night with Gov. Ted Kulongoski and challenger Ron Saxton
Analysis of the Oregon governor's race is easier once ballots have been cast. But before the returns Tuesday night, the physical layout of Saxton's election celebrations gave a good glimpse of the tale.
At the downtown Hilton, Saxton's supporters gathered quietly in the basement ballroom. A moderate who tacked hard right to win the primary, Saxton never quite convinced his party's rural base that he was one of them, in part because he is pro-choice. And on election night, that schism was never more apparent.
Right across the hallway from the silver-haired, buttoned-down crew who assembled for Saxton's gathering was the squeaky-clean, pre-adolescent party for the Yes on 43 campaign, supporters of a ballot measure that would have required parental notification for girls aged 15 to 17 who seek abortions. (That measure failed. Read below for more.)
Before the first drink flowed at the Hilton, even the strongest Saxton supporters knew their candidate trailed Kulongoski substantially in the polls despite spending about $9 million, twice what Kulongoski managed to spend.
In the funereal atmosphere at the Hilton, where even the music—a compilation of Rolling Stones hits—struck the wrong key, the only people who could find cause for celebration were a cluster of conservative radio talk-show hosts, including Lars Larson, Victoria Taft and state Rep. Jeff Kropf (R-Sublimity).
"All tonight is a full employment act for radio talk show hosts," says a glum Larson, the KXL (750 AM) host, as he absorbed the reality of a Democratic landslide.
Saxton's brief, passionless concession speech reflected his failure to find a message with any resonance. "Oregon is a wonderful state," Saxton said.
A few blocks north on Broadway, virtually every Democratic interest group convened within hugging distance of Kulongoski's party at the Benson Hotel.
In case there was any question about the foundation of Kulongoski's semi-miraculous levitation from the political scrap heap where he found himself last spring (his approval rating was only marginally higher then than President Bush's), banners from virtually every organized labor group in the state adorned the walls.
As a self-congratulatory crowd drowned out much of Kulongoski's acceptance speech about 9:45 pm, a haggard, flannel-clad interloper appeared on stage, off to the left of the celebrating crew of Democratic legislators and Kulongoski family members who surrounded a beaming governor.
Having announced in the spring he'd run as an independent gubernatorial candidate and having positioned himself to Kulongoski's left early in the race, the interloper, central Oregon state Sen. Ben Westlund had threatened to split the incumbent's base and throw the race to Saxton.
But Ds made forcing Westlund out of the race a top priority over the summer—and they succeeded. On Tuesday night, he stood with them.
"Out-of-state interests...underestimated the intelligence of Oregon voters and caused a large coalition to coalesce,Westlund said of the Democratic sweep and the defeat of several conservative ballot measures.
——Nigel Jaquiss
House Speaker Karen Minnis and Democratic challenger Rob Brading
Minnis' family celebrated Tuesday night for reasons that had nothing to do with the Republican candidate's still-too-close-to-call bid to maintain her seat representing east Multnomah County.
"We found out we are going to be grandparents again," Karen Minnis said around 11 pm, as the last guests at her campaign party filed out of the Hotel Vintage Plaza in downtown Portland. "It's been a good day."
The results of the contest hadn't been decided when Minnis' party packed up. At the time, Minnis narrowly trailed. But by Wednesday morning, with more votes counted, she narrowly led.
With the race so tight Tuesday night, the candidate's husband, John Minnis, remained glued to a laptop for most of the evening, monitoring the election results as they trickled in.
But when one of his grandsons wandered by brandishing a tooth he had just lost, John Minnis stopped to congratulate the child and give him $20; Karen Minnis had done the same, offering hugs and kisses too. But she was more frugal. The boy only got $1 from Grandma.
Minnis was similarly reserved in mingling with a crowd of about 70 people at its largest. She did not give any speeches Tuesday night. She did, however, speak repeatedly with reporters.
Leaning into a mirror mounted on a coat rack, Minnis applied lipstick before one television interview. Nearby, the bartender looked as though he had very little to do. It was a cash bar, and few people were lining up for the $6 glasses of Washington and Italian wine. Next door, at the Majority 2006 party, drinks were on the house for people with tickets.
"Ready for my close-up," Minnis said quietly as she marched toward the KOIN reporter.
Over at Brading's headquarters, the celebration Tuesday night at the McMenamins Edgefield Resort in Troutdale when early returns showed Brading ahead was pretty reserved.
Brading, who battled Minnis in District 49 in one of the dirtiest—and most expensive—elections this season, wouldn't claim a win early in the evening.
The crowd seemed convinced Tuesday night that Brading was going to take the race. Jammed around a tiny television with rabbit ears, his supporters cheered at each mention of his slight lead against Minnis.
Brading's brief speech thanking his volunteers and staff members drew more applause—as did his comments about a David possibly crushing a Goliath.
While he may have praised the work of his campaign staff, Brading momentarily forgot to thank his wife—until friends in the crowd motioned to her.
While that mistake was minor, the challenger wasn't willing to cop to more egregious mud-slinging in the contest against Minnis.
"I'm very comfortable with the way things went," said Brading, who sipped pints of beer throughout the evening. "We didn't take things out of context, and all our ads were fact-based,"
The candidate said he hoped that "no matter what happened," there'd be a fantastic party. While most of Brading's fans cleared out before 10 pm, some of his younger supporters were talking about a private soiree in one of the hotel's suites.
Given how tame the Democrat's celebration was, we're betting that's where the real fun was.
——Beth Slovic and Brittany Schaeffer
Basic Rights Oregon
When asked who had thrown up on outgoing Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn and the well-polished marble floors of downtown's beautiful Benson Hotel, which on Tuesday night had morphed into party central for progressive Democrats, some old guy quipped: "a Republican."
Republicans weren't the only ones with nervous stomachs.
Even though Basic Rights Oregon didn't have any measures with a direct impact on their cause on this state ballot, "out" fundraiser Terry Bean was nervously pacing the lobby looking for U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).
Bean had just finished a phone call with national Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean, expressing his concern over whether the Dems could take the nation's Senate. Dean assured him absentee ballots in Virginia would save the day.
Upstairs at the Benson, on the jam-packed 13th floor, a.k.a. the penthouse suites for U.S. Reps. David Wu, Blumenauer and others, no one needed assurances, just more alcohol.
The tone was downright giddy in PH3, the suite for Basic Rights Oregon, as lesbians were elected (Virginia Linder to the state Supreme Court, Tina Kotek to the Oregon House from North Portland), measures were defeated (Measure 43) and evil-doers were bid adieu (buh-bye, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.!).
"It's a good night for the left," said former Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Roey Thorpe, who found it interesting that closeted, personally tortured, conservative gay men like Rep. Mark Foley and Rev. Ted Haggard were helping to bring down the right.
And although amendments banning gay marriage still ending up passing in six states, progressive incubator Western States Center's Moira Bowman remarked it was nice that, at least in Oregon, "human dignity wasn't being voted on an actual ballot measure, but in many other ways."
——Byron Beck
Multnomah County Commissioner
As things closed down after 11 pm Tuesday at Spice on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lew Frederick wasn't ready to concede the race for a seat on the Multnomah County Commissioner.
His opponent, Jeff Cogen, had led by 10 percentage points almost the entire evening, but Frederick continued to hold out to see whether a final, late push would swing the race in his favor.
"You go home and get some rest," he said at about 11 pm to the crowd, which had dwindled to at least 30 hardcore supporters from a height of about 100. "I probably won't be sleeping much."
When Frederick awoke today, the results still showed him 10 percentage points behind.
Even as the crowd thinned out Tuesday night and Frederick sipped a ginger ale (after the bar ran out of club soda), he remained upbeat, praising the racial and economic diversity of the crowd.
Letter carrier Jamie Partridge, who spent several Sundays campaigning for Frederick along his mail route, said money was the biggest factor. Cogen raised about $100,000 more than Frederick.
"When you've got two progressive candidates and one's black and one's white, you've got to vote for the black guy," says Partridge, who is white. "He knows the community."
County Commissioner Serena Cruz, whose seat Frederick was running for, showed up to Frederick's party, as did former Portland City Council candidate Amanda Fritz and County Chair-elect Ted Wheeler.
—Ian Demsky
Portland Public Schools five-year levy
With real beer for the adults and root beer for the children, the Election Night party hosted by Portlanders for Schools was something of a barnburner even before they learned voters approved the five-year levy they sought.
Take note, party planners. A piñata is key—especially if it's a green dragon.
"We thought about having a heart [piñata]," campaign manager Rhys Scholes said, as a steady stream of guests trickled into the party in Northeast Portland. "But we thought, 'No, we can't break the heart!'"
No heartbreak. Not a bad metaphor for school lovers who were able to declare victory just 30 minutes after voting ended. When they did, the crowd of children and parents went crazy.
"It's 59 [percent] yes," announced former School Board member Julia Brim-Edwards as balloons descended from a loft in the warehouse space.
Declaring victory early left plenty of time for school-board members to thank campaigners and campaigners to thank donors and for volunteers to thank parents. There was a lot of thanking going on. Superintendent Vicki Phillips was on hand—to thank and be thanked.
There was also some clowning around at the celebration, where pizza was being served and children were frequently stepping on the television cables, troubling the camera crews.
Parent Mike Rosen came dressed in his Halloween costume—a campaign poster for the Portland Schools levy featuring, of course, a giant heart.
"Say you're embarrassed," Rosen said to his son Elias, an eighth-grader at Sellwood Middle School.
"I'm embarrassed," Elias said dutifully.
Then he added: "No, I really am."
——Beth Slovic
Yes on 48 (spending limits)
A tough night for tax activist Don McIntire and his band of merry men aiming to put the clamps on state spending with Measure 48.
Like most of the state measures on the ballot, 48 went down to a resounding defeat. But the veteran McIntire was philosophical about its failure.
"I'm feeling fine," McIntire said. "The term is 'I'm faded' or 'Que sera sera.' That's life in Oregon. It's a state that's of a left-wing persuasion. Occasionally we win one. I'm not losing sleep over it—I like living here."
Measure co-authors McIntire and Greg Howe were among fewer than 15 people—primarily staff and volunteers for Yes on 48—who congregated Tuesday night at the Thirst Wine Bar & Shop downtown to commiserate about the election and watch the results on TV.
The intimate and casual crowd gathered in the dimly lit wine bar around a flat-screen television, which was flipped between several local stations (occasionally landing on Dancing with the Stars). Guests sipped red wine and ate off olive-and-cheese platters—all paid for individually, mind you.
The "Yes on 48ers" remained in good spirits. Snarky comments and jeers—primarily leading with "I voted for him, but..."—were shouted towards Saxton when he came on TV.
McIntire, who went to the bar for a new glass of wine when the screen showed 48 had lost, blamed the measure's defeat primarily on the press, pointing out that the print media (that includes us at WW, which recommended voting "no") did not give the measure a fair chance.
Measure spokesman Matt Evans went on to explain that despite the loss, 48's backers had created a strong base with this election,
"The next step is to soldier on,'' Evans said. "We're going to be a permanent presence here in Oregon."
But for this night, the next step for McIntire and much of the gathering, was to find another bar—this time one that served whiskey, and allowed them to smoke their cigars.
——Alice Joy
No on 48 (and 41)
"Don't make me use this!"
Phil Donovan, campaign manager for Defend Oregon, waved a boomerang as he tried to gather supporters at a raucous Election Night party to celebrate the defeat of two measures that had freaked out the left (Measure 48 and Measure 41, which would have produced a tax cut).
Donovan wielded the weapon, familiar to many from its use during the ad campaign against the two measures, as a symbol of the "boomerang effect" reaction against conservative policies and candidates.
Around 100 very happy liberals came to the basement of the Treasury Ballroom on Southwest Broadway Tuesday night to celebrate the defeat of 41 and 48 while sipping drinks from a cash bar and eating salad rolls, jerk chicken and exotic vegetables.
By 9 pm, the good news seemed assured, and those who would have lost the most if the measures passed began to make victory speeches. Donovan and his boomerang introduced Larry Wolf, the president of the Oregon Education Association, who commended Oregonians on resisting the pressure from out-of-state interests with deep pockets.
"We have shown Bill Sizemore and Don McIntire that we are ready to fight," Wolf declared. "Oregonians have shown that they have had enough of sound bites and empty promises with this resounding victory!"
The crowd cheered, but then began lapsing into side chats while Jerry Cohen, the state director of AARP Oregon, Leslie Frane, executive directory of the Service Employees International Union, and Julia Brim-Edwards, Nike's deputy director for state and public affairs (and a former Portland School Board member), tried to shout their messages over the din.
Nobody was boomeranged.
——Claire Trageser
Yes on 43 (parental notification)
Sarah Nashif was tearful as she took the stage at the "Yes on Measure 43" party Tuesday night after it became apparent Oregon voters strongly rejected the parental-notification measure.
The measure, which would have required Oregon physicians to notify parents of teenage girls seeking an abortion 48 hours before the procedure, made a statement despite its defeat, said Nashif, the "Yes on 43" campaign manager.
"We have to believe that even though it might not be a law right now, there is a difference going on in a lot of girls' lives as a result of this campaign," Nashif said.
The party for 43's supporters at the downtown Hilton (across the hall from Saxton's election wake) was well-attended by Portland's pro-life community, who came out to munch on Szechuan beef, sip punch and chuckle nervously as votes trickled in.
"I'm very pro-life, and I think that teenagers should only have the right to choose between adoption and keeping the baby," said Theresa Maurseth, 16.
Bill Sizemore, also a measure loser Tuesday night when voters rejected his Measure 42 to bar use of credit scores in auto insurance, made a brief appearance at the "Yes on 43" party.
Sizemore, the father of two teenage girls, said Measure 43 was "so common-sensical to me that I can't even fathom people voting against it."
Though attendance began to drop after local news organizations concluded the measure had failed, many of the plucky "Yes on 43" supporters were still around when Nashif made her concession speech.
Asked why the measure did not succeed, Nashif told WW, "At the end, big money kind of bought this race away from the majority of Oregonians in just the last week." —Julie Sabatier
The View from the Couch
If you didn't go to an Election Night party and get drunk, you might have seen some of these highlights and lowlights while surfing blogs and TV or listening to the radio.
Here are our awards for the best and worst moments.
Best Media Gaffe:
Early in the evening, KOIN-TV showed a graphic claiming an unbelievably good night for two heavy Republican underdogs in Oregon congressional races. The graphic gave 90 percent to Derrick Kitts, the challenger to 1st District U.S. Rep. David Wu; and 78 percent to Bruce Broussard, the challenger to 3rd District U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Uh, not exactly. Wu and Blumenauer, two Democrats, both won in landslides.
Best Media Gaffe, runner up:
The KOIN reporter who interviewed Congressman Blumenauer and kept calling him "Congressman BlumenHOWER."
Best line of the evening:
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Colin Fogarty at Saxton headquarters at the downtown Hilton. When asked what the mood was like in the room, he responded, "Oooohhh...chilly."
Least believable claim:
Shortly after the polls closed, Ron Saxton was asked what he would be doing tomorrow and he responded, "Working on putting together my transition team."
Most interesting political observation:
Veteran state Sen. Peter Courtney (D-Salem), commenting on the narrow margin of control the Dems will now have in the House. "I've found that government works more effectively that way. When we have too much of a majority, our party just fights amongst itself."
Oddest couple:
Len Bergstein, a longtime lobbyist and power broker whose day job is a water carrier for Democratic interests, worked election night as an analyst for KGW news. He was visibly offended at having to be paired with Tim Phillips, a Republican stockbroker whose qualifications for his job as analyst is his second-place finish in a congressional primary two years ago.
Best Blog exchange:
A poster filed this on Blue Oregon: "Seemed to me in the last campaign [Ted Kulongoski] barely showed up even for his victory party night. I worried about what the guy had been like on his wedding night."
A woman claiming to be Mary Oberst—Oregon's first lady—fired back, "Ted's wife here, assuring you that Ted showed up for his wedding night." —Mark Zusman
WWeek 2015