Oregon gubernatorial election, 2010

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

In the Oregon gubernatorial election of 2010, held on November 2, 2010, Democrat John Kitzhaber, a former Governor of the state, defeated Republican Chris Dudley . The incumbent, Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski was term-limited.

In the May 18, 2010 primary elections, Kitzhaber took two-thirds of the vote over Bill Bradbury, a former Secretary of State. For the GOP, Dudley had a relatively close victory over Allen Alley, one-time Chief of Staff to Governor Kulongoski.

A Republican victory in 2010 would have been considered a fairly significant upset. Although the 2006 election of Kulongoski was not a landslide, it was a comfortable margin, and no Republican has won the seat since 1982.

November 2, 2010 general election results

Results are, as of December 2, 2010, official.

Governor of Oregon, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Kitzhaber	49.3%	716,525
	Republican	Chris Dudley	47.8%	694,287
	Constitution	Greg Kord	1.4%	20,475
	Libertarian	Wes Wagner	1.3%	19,048
	Miscellaneous	-	0.2%	3,213
Total Votes				1,453,548
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State

Inauguration and transition

Inaugural date

Governor-elect John Kitzhaber was inaugurated on January 10, 2011.

Transition team

Governor-elect Kitzhaber's transition site was live at Governor-elect John Kitzhaber. Kitzhaber annouced his top priorities as economic development, balancing Oregon's budget, and education. Tom Imeson, a top aide to former Governor Neil Goldschmidt, ran the transition team. Immeson also oversaw outgoing Governor Ted Kulongoski's transition in 2002.

The incoming Governor had, as of November 10, 2010, announced several policy teams and their leaderships:

• Economic Development Team:
  • Ted Wheeler, Treasurer, State of Oregon
  • Wally Van Valkenburg, managing partner, Stoel Rives; chair, Oregon Business Development Commission

• Manufacturing Team:
  • John Carter, CEO, Schnitzer Steel
  • John Mohlis, executive secretary, Oregon Building Trades Council

• Energy Efficiency Team:
  • Margaret Kirkpatrick, vice president and general counsel, NW Natural
  • Barbara Byrd, secretary-treasurer, AFL-CIO
  • Maurice Rahming, president, O’Neill Electric

• Biomass Team:
  • John Shelk, managing director, Ochoco Lumber Company
  • Matt Donegan, co-founder and co-president, Forest Capital Partners

• Workforce Development Team:
  • Dave Williams, vice president, NW Natural; chair, Oregon Workforce Investment Board
  • Lori Luchak, president, Miles Fiberglass

May 18, 2010 primary

2010 Race for Governor - Democrat Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Bill Bradbury (D)		29.46%
John Kitzhaber (D)		64.78%
Roger Obrist (D)		4.29%
(write-in)		1.47%
Total votes		374,404

2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Alvin Alley (R)		31.76%
Clark S. Colvin (R)		0.38%
William Ames Curtwright (R)		3.98%
Chris Dudley (R)		39.11%
Bob Forthan (R)		0.23%
Darren Kerr (R)		0.36%
John Lim (R)		15.07%
William L. Sizemore (R)		7.49%
Rex O. Watkins (R)		0.97%
(write-in)		0.64%
Total votes		314,087

Race ratings

See also: Gubernatorial elections 2010, Race tracking

2010 Race Rankings Oregon
Race Tracker		Race Rating
The Cook Political Report		Toss-up
Congressional Quarterly Politics		Leans Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball		Leans Republican
Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard		Toss-up
The Rothenberg Political Report		Pure Toss-up
Overall Call		Toss-up

Changes

3. Rothenberg moved races back to "Pure Toss-up" from "Toss-up Tilting Republican" as of October 24th.

2. Rothenberg moved races from "Pure Toss-up" to "Toss-up Tilting Republican" in its October 1st ratings.

1. Cook Political Report moved race from "Lean Democratic" to "Toss-up" in its September 30th ratings.

Polling

2010 Race for Oregon Governor - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported		Dudley	Kitzhaber	Other	Don't Know
October 10, 2010		48%	46%	3%	4%
September 8, 2010		49%	44%	2%	5%
August 22, 2010		45%	44%	3%	8%
July 26, 2010		47%	44%	5%	4%
June 17, 2010		47%	45%	4%	4%
May 24, 2010		45%	44%	4%	6%
April 29, 2010		41%	41%	6%	13%
February 17, 2010		36%	42%	-	-
(Sample)		n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

Candidates

The November Ballot – Who Made It? Oregon Governor
Nominee		Affiliation
John Kitzhaber		Democrat
Chris Dudley		Republican
Wes W. Wagner		Libertarian
Gregory E. Kord		Constitution
John Kitzhaber		Independent
This lists candidates who won their state's primary or convention, or who were unopposed, and who were officially certified for the November ballot by their state's election authority.

Constitution

• Gregory E. Kord is an industrial designer, who ran on a platform of turning Oregon's government "Back to Basics." He received the Constitution Party's nomination at their June 26, 2010 convention.

Democratic

• Former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury
• Former Governor of Oregon John Kitzhaber won the spring primary for his party's nomination. He previously served in both chambers of the state legislature, including being elected as President of the State Senate, and is a physician by training.
• Jerry Wilson later switched his candidacy to a third party.
• Roger Obrist

Libertarian

• Wes W. Wagner who campaigned under the banner "Cure Oregon." An IT worker and vice-chair of the state's Libertarian party, his candidacy coincided with a schism with the Libertarians over Oregon's 'fusion voting law'.

Independent

• John DiLorenzo withdrew June 15th, citing the crowded field of centrists running on Independent tickets.

Independent Party of Oregon

• Photographer and small-business owner Richard Esterman centered his campaign of the theme of a 'Commoner' running for governor in a field of career politicians.

Independent Progressive Party of Oregon

• Jerry Wilson refused to accept donations and ran his campaign through word of mouth in order to make his point about removing money from politics and law-making. As the inventor of the home gym system 'Soloflex', Wilson chose to self-fund his campaign.

Republican

• Allen Alley was a 2008 candidate for State Treasurer and a Chief of Staff to Governor Kulongoski.
• Clark S. Colvin, a business owner who dealt with a flap over whether he had actually been formally awarded a Ph.D. he had studied for.
• William Ames Curtwright, a 2002 GOP hopeful for the governorship, is the owner of Ames Research Laboratories.
• Chris Dudley is a former NBA player who now runs a financial services firm and a children's charity he founded. After the primaries, he moved on as the GOP's candidate.
• Bob Forthan
• Darren Karr made a point in the platform outlined on his website of stating, "I’m a life-long Independent, running in the Republican party (not something I’m really happy about. I’m not a fan of either party) because you’re either an insider, or you’re a loser." Predictably, he fared poorly in the crowded field on primary day.
• Former Oregon State Senator John Lim, a South Korea native and business owner, ultimately lost the primary.
• Bill Sizemore has previously run for State Senate and for Governor against Kitzhaber, in addition to sponsoring numerous petitions.
• Rex O. Watkins's unsuccessful campaign aligned itself with the Tea Party and many of its affiliated groups.

2006 Results

Candidate	Votes	Percent of total
Theodore Kulongoski (D)	699,786	50.7%
Ron Saxton (R)	589,748	42.8%

Gubernatorial electoral history

1998 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
John Kitzhaber (D)		64.42%
Bill Sizemore (R)		30.01%
Richard P. Burke (L)		1.81%
Blair Bobier (P)		1.42%
Roger G. Weidner (RF)		0.91%
Patti Steurer (NL)		0.70%
Trey Smith (S)		0.52%
(write-in)		0.20%
Total votes		1,113,098

2002 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
Ted Kulongoski (D)		49.03%
Kevin L. Mannix (R)		46.16%
Tom Cox (L)		4.59%
Total votes		1,260,497

2006 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
Ted Kulongoski (D)		50.73%
Ron Saxton (R)		42.75%
Mary Starrette (C)		3.64%
Joe Keating (G)		1.45%
Richard Morley (L)		1.22%
(write-in)		0.21%
Total votes		1,379,475

Presidential electoral history

2000 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George W. Bush (R)		46.52%
Al Gore (D)		46.96%

2004 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George W. Bush (R)		47.19%
John Kerry (D)		51.35%

2008 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
John McCain (R)		40.40%
Barack Obama (D)		56.75%

1992 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George H.W. Bush (R)		32.53%
Bill Clinton (D)		42.48%

1996 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
Bob Dole (R)		39.06%
Bill Clinton (D)		47.15%

See also

• Gubernatorial elections, 2010
• Oregon lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010

External links

• Oregon Gubernatorial Overview at CQ Politics

Candidate pages

• Alvin Alley for Governor
• Bradbury 2010
• Clark Colvin for Governor of Oregon
• Dudley for Governor
• Commoner for Governor - Richard Esterman's site
• Darren (Karr) for Oregon
• John Kitzhaber for Oregon Governor
• Greg Kord for Oregon Governor 2010
• John Lim for Governor
• Official Website of Bill Sizemore
• Rex Watkins for Governor of Oregon
• Wes Wegner - Libertarian Candidate for Governor
• Jerry Wilson for Oregon Governor