Tina Kotek led Christine Drazan in the 2026 Oregon Gubernatorial Election on Tuesday, taking 54.4% of early returns to Drazan’s 43% as more than one million ballots were counted. Brett Smith had 2.5% at 8:00 p.m., putting the race into a clear early shape while ballots were still being tallied.
The count gave Kotek a double-digit advantage in Oregon’s governor’s race as the first returns came in. Drazan was running in a contest that had been framed as close before Election Day, after political forecasters moved the race from “solid Democratic” after the May primary to “lean Democratic” before voters cast their ballots.
Tina Kotek in Oregon
Kotek was seeking another term after winning office four years ago, and her early margin came in a state that has elected Democrats to the governor’s office in every election since 1986. In a recent interview with OPB, she said, “If anything, I’ve learned in this first term the wheels of change are probably a little slower than I am happy with.” She added, “We need to work harder to continue to make that progress for folks.”
Christine Drazan in Oregon
Drazan entered the race as the challenger in a partial rematch of the 2022 Oregon governor’s race, when Kotek and Drazan ran alongside Betsy Johnson’s nonaffiliated campaign. Drazan said she would enforce Oregon’s sanctuary state laws if elected and protect Oregonians’ ability to vote-by-mail. She was born in Klamath Falls and graduated from George Fox University.
Oregon ballots and remaining count
The early numbers showed why the remaining ballots mattered. More than one million votes were already counted, but the race had not reached a final tally when the first returns were reported, leaving the next batch of ballots to decide whether Kotek’s lead would hold. For voters watching the race, the immediate story was not just the margin — it was whether the early count would match the final result after the rest of Oregon’s ballots were added in.
