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Drazen leads Republican governor primary

Former House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby leads the 19 Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for governor.

Drazen has 23.3% of the vote as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, with Bob Tiernan in second with 18.3% and Stan Pulliam in third with 9.9%. Kerry McQuisten of Baker City was in fifth with 8.7%

Tiernan late in the afternoon May 18 conceded the race and wished Drazen good luck in the campaign.

Kotek wins Democrat governor primary

Former Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek dominated the 15-candidate field for the Democratic nomination for governor and likely facees Drazan in the November election.

Kotek racked up large totals in her base in Portland. Treasurer Tobias Read of Beaverton conceded late May 17.

Kotek was leading with 56% as of 2 p.m. May 18, Read 32%, with Patrick Starnes, the 2018 Independent Party nominee who ran as a Democrat this time, with 2%, and others trailing as of early May 18.

Stephenson on top for race for Oregon State Labor Commissioner

Portland labor lawyer Christina Stephenson had a large edge over her six rivals in the race for the nonpartisan position of commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries

But with 47% of the vote, she’s falling short of the 50% required to skip a run-off in November.

If current trends hold, she would face former Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend, who has 19% of the vote, in the general election.

Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla was third with just more than 14%.

Bentz easily outdistances challengers

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz easily outdistanced his Republican challengers for the U.S. House in Oregon’s Second Congressional District.

Bentz has more than 59,000 votes, earning 75.9% of the vote. Challenger Mark Cavener has 14,473 votes and Katherine Gallant is in a distant third place with 3,954 votes.

Bentz, who is from Ontario, was elected to represent Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District in 2020.

Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District includes all or part of 20 counties across northern, eastern, central and southern Oregon.

Tight race in GOP nomination for U.S. senator

Jo Rae Perkins has the edge in the Republican nomination in the race for Oregon U.S. senator.

Perkins has 32.2% of the vote over Darin Harbick with 30.3%.

Whoever wins faces Democrat Ron Wyden in the general election. Wyden is running away with his party’s nomination, having so far received 89.4% of the vote.

Wenholz has edge in Morrow County commissioner race

Wenholz leads the race for Position 2 on the Morrow County Board of Commissioners 50.6% to 49.2% for Commissioner Melissa Lindsay.

In the race for Position 3 on the Morrow County Board of Commissioners, David Sykes has 50.3%, with Mike McNamee at 30.8% and Gus Peterson at 18.7%.

— Election results are preliminary and from the Oregon Secretary of State’s elections tracker.