Oregon Republican nominee for governor Christine Drazan on Sept. 16, 2022, before the Westward Ho! Parade in Pendleton highlights some of the issues facing Oregon.

SALEM — Democrat Tina Kotek has won the race for Oregon governor, defeating Republican Christine Drazan.

It was a hard-fought and expensive win by Democrats, who have a huge party registration advantage in Oregon but faced strong headwinds this year amid voter frustration at problems including homelessness, violent crime and lackluster delivery of government programs and services.

As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, Kotek was ahead of Drazan by 30,000 votes, the state’s tally showed. And Multnomah County had yet to tabulate results from 80,000 ballots it has logged as received by 10 a.m. Wednesday, state and county websites showed. With Multnomah voters favoring Kotek over Drazan by a better than 70% to 30% margin, those untallied votes in Oregon’s biggest, bluest county can be expected to add another 30,000 votes to Kotek’s lead, The Oregonian/OregonLive projects.

Votes still untallied in other counties that favor Drazan, including Clackamas, Marion and Yamhill, won’t be sufficient to erode Kotek’s substantial margin, an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows.

Kotek is the longest-serving House Speaker in Oregon history and will be Oregon’s first openly lesbian governor. She has promised a more proactive, but still compassionate, approach to homelessness and crime in Oregon, than her predecessor, Gov. Kate Brown.

Brown’s lowest-in-the-nation popularity rating was also widely viewed as a drag on Kotek’s ability to win over voters, and the Democratic nominee attempted with increasing intensity to distance herself from Brown by criticizing the governor in debates and ads. Kotek also had to contend with an unusually well-funded unaffiliated candidate in Johnson, who polling showed was attracting more Democratic voters than Republicans.

Kotek’s win affirms just how difficult it is for a Republican candidate to win election to the state’s highest office, which Republicans last held in 1987.

Now, Kotek will get the opportunity that she said on the campaign trail she wanted: to follow through on initiatives that Democrats passed in the Legislature but the state hasn’t yet produced, such as the state’s family and medical leave program that is expected to launch eight months late while workers forgo as much as $453 million in benefits.

Johnson conceded Nov. 8 she wouldn’t be Oregon’s next governor.

“While the outcome fell short of what we wanted, I believe this campaign was a success. We made an impact,” Johnson said at her election watch party. “We sent a message that the majority of Oregonians across party lines, and no party at all, want big change in our state.”

Johnson, who is a timber heiress and served as the state’s lead budget writer for several years, continually lagged in the polls behind Drazan and Kotek.

Near the end of the race, Johnson was often asked whether she could act as a spoiler candidate, helping elect Drazan to office.

Johnson, who grew up in Oregon and supports abortion access, said she doesn’t believe the state would ever elect a governor who opposes it.

“This is a solidly pro-choice state, and it’s gonna remain so,” Johnson said in an earlier interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Despite the dismal polling, she said she wouldn’t drop out of the race.

“Sitting around watching Oregon in a death spiral, I have one last fight in me, and this is it,” she said. “And I’m not going to surrender a place I love without one hell of a fight.”