Kitzhaber (D) chips away at slim Dudley (R) lead in Ore. (Governor)

[Qutzupalotl]

Source: AP

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Democrat John Kitzhaber was whittling down a slim lead by Republican Chris Dudley as the last ballots were being counted statewide in the race for governor.

Most of the remaining ballots were in Multnomah County, where Kitzhaber was heavily favored among the large Democratic majority in Portland.

With nearly 1.3 million ballots counted, Dudley had just over 49 percent while Kitzhaber had a little over 48 percent of the vote.

But roughly one-fourth of the Multnomah County ballots had yet to be counted by 9 a.m. Wednesday, and Kitzhaber was outpacing Dudley by nearly 3-to-1.


Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/11/03/1790423/oregon-governor-candidates-locked.html

---

Less than 10,000 votes separate Dudley and Kitzhaber. Multnomah is Portland area, Lane county is Eugene. Both are Democratic strongholds. If you extrapolate how Kitz is doing in those counties, he comes out ahead! Stay tuned!

[Qutzupalotl]

1. This is the one downside to vote-by-mail: returns are not instant.

It takes time to open 1.2 million envelopes. Still... 71% turnout is great for a midterm.

[napi21]

3. Somebody in the Or. legislature was talking today about proposing a change

to OR. voting laws and changing th instructions to state "Received by election day" instead of "postmarked by election day". The only problem I see with that is that there's no way for the voter to know just how many days it takes the mail to get from their postal drop to the counting destination. What would be the penalty if yur ballot wwasn't delivered on time? Would your vote be uncounted?

Having said all that, I still think it's one of the bst voting systems we have in the US! Actual paper ballots, always can be recounted if necessary, plenty of time for the voter to review the ballot and research the candidates and any referunda that may be on that ballot. I wish we had that system in every state, and I'd be more than willing to waitthe extra few days for correct results!

[utopian]

4. Ballots already need to be received by election day in OR

You may be thinking of Washington, which goes by the postmark rule.

[napi21]

5. Maybe. They do also talk a lot about Wa. on that show. nt

[Arugula Latte]

19. Yes, all ballots must be received by election day.

There is always an announcement from the media: "This is the last day to mail ballots. After this you must drop them off." They set up drop-off sites all over the state (libraries, etc.)

[Permanut]

13. Same thing happened with Merkely in 2008

Was trailing Gordon Smith until Multnomah County (Portland) returns came in.

[Stevepol]

18. Would you really rather have electronic voting machines count the votes?

I say take a week if you need to. Take a month. If, when it's over, it's verified and acceptable as a fair election to all concerned, it's well worth the extra time and trouble.

[Qutzupalotl]

20. Absolutely not!

I'm saying the ONLY downside to mailed ballots is the counting time. It's well worth the wait. We just sometimes miss the victory parties.

[napi21]

2. I was listening to KPOJ tis AM and they were talking about that race.

I sure hope the host & YOU are right and Kitz wins. I don't live in Or. nor have I ever been there, but I listen to that station all the time & I'm really sick & tired of these candidates who snub any nedia and refuse to answer any questons before an election. Dudley behaved like the male version of Sharron Angel and their actions are unacceptable!

[Bluenorthwest]

6. They say if trends continue, it will be Kitz by 15,000

May it be so.

[classof56]

7. Oh, please...whatever powers that be, let it be so!

We Oregonians will survive (god forbid) Dudley but it would involve a lot of teeth clenching and cringing. I will have to re-up my "fastest TV remote in the west" skills--like when bush was prez.

Go Kitz!

[CreekDog]

8. Looks like almost all outstanding ballots are in Multnomah Co (Portland)

if they have the same margin as other Multnomah Co votes, Kitzhaber-D will get a 23k vote margin among them and move from a 10k deficit with Dudley-R to a 10-13k advantage.

[Qutzupalotl]

9. UPDATE: Kitzhaber gaining ground

The (Portland) Oregonian reported Dudley was leading but Kitzhaber was gaining ground. At mid-afternoon, Kitzhaber had narrowed his deficit by about 4,000 votes and trailed by about 11,000 (0.9 percent).

The newspaper said thousands more ballots were yet to be counted across Oregon, including the Democratic stronghold of Multnomah where there was a last-minute surge of voting reported.

The Oregonian noted there will be an automatic recount if the margin winds up within 0.2 percent of the total votes cast, or about 3,000 votes. Either candidate could request a recount if the margin is wider but would have to pay for it.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/11/03/Oregons-governors-race-undecided/UPI-89531288823597/

[Qutzupalotl]

10. Kitzhaber now down only 5,454 votes... still gaining!

http://gov.oregonlive.com/election/

[Qutzupalotl]

11. Fox 12 calls the election for Kitzhaber!!! WE WON!!

[KansDem]

12. Can the Supreme Court step in and stop this?

Oh, wait...silly me...that's only for POTUS...

[cascadiance]

14. Someone said that some local station just announced that projected Kitzhaber winning!!

Coincidentally I was looking at the election total pages too, and it just changed the last few minutes...

http://www.kptv.com/election-results/17869939/detail.html

Before the difference was over 10k votes (10781) and the latest count just had Kitzhaber gain heavily to be only a 5k difference (5454)

[Arugula Latte]

15. Political analyst Tim Hibbitts called it -- he knows this stuff.

If he says Kitzhaber's got it, he's got it. :)

[Arugula Latte]

16. I just have to say -- Hooray for Multnomah County!

:woohoo:

:toast:

[Qutzupalotl]

17. Oregonian now calling it Kitz

This deserves its own thread. :)