Primary Outlook: Women Candidates in Oregon

Kelly Dittmar

Gender Watch 2018From March to December 2018, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) partnered to offer Gender Watch 2018, which tracked, analyzed, and illuminated gender dynamics in the 2018 midterm elections. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Gender Watch 2018 furthered public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns. The blog below was written for Gender Watch 2018, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role U.S. elections.

 

Ahead of the Oregon primary election on May 15, 2018, we outline the numbers and proportions of women who have filed as candidates for congressional and statewide office. The data below also provide points of historical comparison to give context to today’s presence and potential success of women candidates.

All data are provided from the Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. For a full list of the women candidates in Oregon primary races for congressional and statewide offices, see CAWP’s Election Watch page.

CONGRESS

Current: 1 (1D) of 7 members of the OR congressional delegation (14.3%)
Filed: 5 (4D, 1R)
Percent of all Filed Congressional Candidates (D/R): 15.6% (5 of 32)

SENATE

Current: 0 of 2 senators

  • One woman has represented Oregon in the U.S. Senate: Maurine Brown Neuberger (D), 1960-1967.

There is no U.S. Senate race in Oregon this year.

HOUSE

Current: 1 (1D) of 5 representatives (20%)

  • The sole women House incumbent – Suzanne Bonamici (D) – is running for re-election this year.
  • A total of 5 (5D) women have represented OR in the U.S. House, including Representative Bonamici. 

Filed:  5 (4D, 1R)

  • 3 (3D) women are running against each other to challenge Republican incumbent Greg Walden in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District.
  • 1 (1R) woman is running to challenge Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio in Oregon’s 4th Congressional District.
  • There are no open seat contests for the U.S. House in Oregon this year.

Districts with Women Candidates: 3 of 5
Percent of all Filed House Candidates (D/R): 15.6% (5 of 32)
Percent of all Filed Democratic House Candidates:  22.2% (4 of 18)
Percent of all Filed Republican House Candidates: 7.1% (1 of 14)

Recent history: The number of women who filed for major party candidacy for the U.S. House in Oregon in 2018 is not a record high. Between 2008 and 2018, the highest number of women candidates filed to run for the U.S. House was 6 in 2012, when, like this year, there were no open U.S. House seats being contested.

  • This year does mark a high for the number of Democratic women filed for the U.S. House between 2008 and 2018. In 2014, 3 Democratic women filed for U.S. House contests. In contrast, 4 Republican women filed for U.S. House contests in 2012. Between 2008 and 2018, there was only one open seat contest for the U.S. House in Oregon (in 2008).

GOVERNOR

Current: 1
Kate Brown (D) currently serves as the second woman governor of Oregon. Barbara Roberts served as Oregon’s first woman governor from 1991 to 1995.

Filed: 2 (2D)

  • Candace Neville is challenging incumbent Governor Kate Brown in the Democratic primary.

Percent of all Filed Gubernatorial Candidates (D/R):  15.4% (2 of 13)
Percent of all Filed Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates:  66.7% (2 of 3)
Percent of all Filed Republican Gubernatorial Candidates: 0% (0 of 10)

Recent history: No more than 1 woman has been a major party candidate for governor between 2008 and 2016. This year, 2 (2D) women are competing for the Democratic nomination.

OTHER STATEWIDE ELECTED EXECUTIVE OFFICES

Current: 1 (1D) of 4 positions (excludes governor) (25%)

  • Ellen Rosenblum (D) serves as Attorney General of Oregon. She is not up for re-election this year.
  • Just one statewide executive office other than governor is up for election in 2018: Commissioner of Labor and Industries.

Filed:  1 (1NP)

  • Val Hoyle (NP), the former majority leader in the Oregon House of Representatives (D), is running to Commissioner of Labor and Industries this year. She will compete against two non-incumbent men in November’s general election for the position.

Percent of all Filed Statewide Executive (other than governor) Candidates (D/R): 33.3 % (1 of 3)

Recent history: The number of women who filed for major party candidacy for statewide elected executive offices (other than governor) in Oregon in 2018 is smaller than the 2 women candidates that have filed each year for these offices since 2008.

Kelly Dittmar headshot

Kelly Dittmar

Kelly Dittmar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers–Camden and Director of Research and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is the co-author of A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen’s Perspectives on Why Their Representation Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018) (with Kira Sanbonmatsu and Susan J. Carroll) and author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press, 2015).

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