Oregon local trial court judicial elections, 2018

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Oregon held nonpartisan elections for local judicial offices in 2018. A primary election took place on May 15, 2018. If only one candidate filed to run for any office, that candidate was automatically elected. If two or more candidates filed for any office, the candidate who received a majority of votes in the primary was elected at that time. If no candidate received a majority of votes in the primary, the top two finishers advanced to the general election on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 6, 2018.[1]

Seats which were not originally slated to be up for election in 2018 can not be decided in the primary, and were decided during the general election. Primary elections were only held for those races if three or more candidates file to run.[1]

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. This coverage extends to every office on the ballot for residents of these cities, including local trial court judges. In 2018, Ballotpedia covered the following local elections in this state:

If the above list includes local trial court judgeships, click the links for more information about the elections. Click here to learn more about how the judges in this state are selected. Ballotpedia did not cover all local trial court judicial elections in this state in 2018. Please consider donating to Ballotpedia to help us expand our coverage of these elections.

For more information about the 2018 appellate court elections in the state, click here.

Election dates

  • March 6, 2018: Candidate filing deadline
  • May 15, 2018: Primary election
  • November 6, 2018: General election

Election rules

Primary election

The primary election is held in even-numbered years on the third Tuesday in May.[2]

If a candidate in the primary election receives more than 50% of the vote, she or he is elected. If not, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election. The exception to this rule is when the election is for a vacated seat that would not otherwise have been on the ballot.

All judicial races require a primary election except those to fill a midterm vacancy for a seat that would otherwise have not appeared on the ballot that year. In the case of such a midterm vacancy, the primary may be skipped if only one or two candidates file for that office. If there are three or more candidates running for that seat, however, they compete in the primary. If any of them receives over 50% of the vote in the primary, that candidate's name appears unopposed on the general election ballot. If no candidate receives a majority, then the top two candidates advance to the general election. This differs from regular judicial elections that are held at the end of a judge's term in that no candidates can be elected at the primary.[3]

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election of judges

Judges of the Oregon Supreme Court, Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Circuit Courts are all selected in an identical manner. They are chosen in nonpartisan elections to serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[4]

The chief judges of the circuit courts are appointed by the chief justice of the state supreme court to serve a two-year term.[4]

Qualifications
To serve on the circuit court, a judge must be:[4]

  • a U.S. citizen;
  • a state resident for at least three years;
  • a resident of his or her circuit for at least one year;
  • a state bar member; and
  • under the age of 75.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Two of 36 Oregon counties—5.6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Columbia County, Oregon 11.46% 5.16% 12.02%
Tillamook County, Oregon 5.58% 4.86% 9.89%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Oregon with 50.1 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 39.1 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Oregon cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 73.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Oregon supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 56.7 to 43.3 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every election between between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Oregon. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[5][6]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 39 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 26.9 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 36 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 31.6 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 21 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 20.3 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 24 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 24 points. Trump won three districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

See also

Local courts Oregon Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Offices Open - May 15, 2018, Primary Election," accessed October 2, 2017
  2. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Election Law Summary," accessed July 22, 2014
  3. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Election Law Summary - ORS 249," accessed May 6, 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Oregon," archived October 3, 2014
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  6. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

Oregon courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Oregon • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Oregon

State courts:

Oregon Supreme Court • Oregon Court of Appeals • Oregon Circuit Courts • Oregon Tax Court • Oregon County Courts • Oregon Justice Courts • Oregon Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Oregon • Oregon judicial elections • Judicial selection in Oregon

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