Some poll results show a higher percentage of Oregon voters cast “protest votes” on Tuesday than in recent presidential primaries, a sign of declining enthusiasm for the two major party candidates.
About 12% of Oregon Democrats and about 8% of Republicans who voted in Tuesday's primary voted for a candidate other than their party's presumptive presidential nominee, according to votes counted as of 10 p.m. .
By comparison, in 2020, 6% of Oregon Republican voters voted against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. In 2012, about 5% of Oregon Democratic voters did not vote for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
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The so-called “protest vote” has been watched by political analysts as a measure of support for major party candidates and as an indicator of how likely voters are to vote in November's closely contested general election. There is.
Of the more than 303,000 Democratic votes counted as of 10 p.m., Biden received 88% of the party's vote, while front-runner Marianne Williamson, the only Democratic presidential candidate on Oregon's primary ballot, received 7%. Another 5% voted for other candidates.
Trump, who is again the Republican nominee, has stronger support among registered Republicans in Oregon. Of the 226,000 Republican votes counted as of 9 p.m., he accounted for 92% of the party's votes, with 8% being write-in votes for other candidates. Trump was the only Republican on the Oregon ballot.
It's unclear how many voters returned their ballots without choosing a presidential candidate or filling them out.
Trump and Biden clinched their parties' nominations two months ago and have won enough delegates to win their respective party conventions this summer.
So far, protest votes against President Trump have been on the rise nationwide.
Nationally, Biden faces opposition within the Democratic Party over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, President Trump has alienated some Republicans, particularly in suburban areas, for his own role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The group Uncommit Oregon held a press conference last week at Lownsdale Square in downtown Portland, asking Democratic voters to write “Uncommit.” The government wants a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military aid to Israel, and humanitarian aid for Gazans.
The group said it expects more than 40,000 Oregonians to vote “irresponsibly” based on an analysis of voting patterns in states that have already held primaries.
“If your intent is to protest the Biden administration, nothing expresses that intent more clearly than by writing ‘Uncommitted’ on your ballot,” said Ky McMurtry, Uncommitted Oregon campaign manager. he said.
Democratic presidential candidates have won the past nine general elections in Oregon. The last Republican presidential candidate to win the state was Ronald Reagan in 1984, when he received 56% of the vote.
– Matthew Kish covers businesses such as sportswear and the banking industry. Contact us at 503-221-4386, mkish@oregonian.com or @matthewkish.
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