Oregon school board elections, 2026

Oregon 2026 elections

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Elections

State profile

Additional elections

No Oregon school districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage are holding school board elections in 2026.

Election rules

View election rules

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Oregon are held on the Third Tuesday in May every two years in odd-numbered years.

See law: Oregon Statutes Chapters 255 and 332

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

Filing deadline date: March 18, 2027
General election date: May 18, 2027

Election system

School board members in Oregon are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Oregon are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Statute governing nonpartisan elections governs the election procedures for school district board member elections and prohibits the inclusion of any information or designations on the ballot other than the names of the candidates.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335

Winning an election

The school board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.124

Term length and staggering

School board members in Oregon have four-year terms.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.018

Oregon Statute states that each district must hold a school board election every two years to elect board members to four-year terms. Most districts elect as close to half of their board members as possible every two years.

See law: Oregon Statute Section 255.335

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members in Oregon are elected by voters at large, by voters from zones (sub-districts), or through a combination of the two. Nominating petitions for school board candidates can also contain signatures from the district at large, from voters within sub-districts, or through a combination of the two. School board seats can be nominated from zones but elected at large. School board members are nominated and elected according to position numbers for both at-large seats and by-sub-district seats. School board members are elected at large by default. Zones (sub-districts) for nominating petitions can be established through school board resolution or petition and voter approval processes. Once sub-districts for nominating petitions are established, the school board can also vote to establish that positions nominated by voters from sub-districts must also be elected by voters from those sub-districts.

See law: Oregon Statutes Chapter 332

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The deadline for school board candidates to file nominating petitions and declarations of candidacy is 61 days before the May general election in odd-numbered years. This means the school board candidate filing deadline is in mid-March in odd-numbered years. The filing window is 40 days long.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.235

School board candidates cannot file nominating petitions and declarations of candidacy until 40 days before the filing deadline. The filing deadline is 61 days before the May general election, which means the window for candidates to file opens 101 days before the May general election in early February in odd-numbered years.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.235

The term of school board members officially expires on June 30 following the election of their replacements, which means the term of newly elected school board members officially begins on July 1 following their election to office.

See law: Oregon Statutes Section 332.138

Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in Oregon and School board recalls

State	Specific grounds required?	Signature requirement	Petition circulation time	When recalls can start
Oregon	No	15% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in the jurisdiction	90 days	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for six months

State profile

Demographic data for Oregon
	Oregon	U.S.
Total population:	4,024,634	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	95,988	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	85.1%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.8%	12.6%
Asian:	4%	5.1%
Native American:	1.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	12.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	30.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$51,243	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Oregon. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Oregon

Oregon voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, two are located in Oregon, accounting for 0.97 percent of the total pivot counties.^[1]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Oregon had two Retained Pivot Counties, 1.10 of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Oregon coverage on Ballotpedia

Footnotes

↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

[1] The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

[1]

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Oregon school board elections, 2026

Contents

Election rules

Election dates and frequency

Election system

Party labels on the ballot

Winning an election

Term length and staggering

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

Recalls

State profile

Presidential voting pattern

Pivot Counties (2016)

Pivot Counties (2020)

See also

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

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