2026 Oregon Commissioner of Labor election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 Oregon Commissioner of Labor election was held on May 19, 2026, to elect the Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries, one of five statewide elected offices. Incumbent commissioner Christina Stephenson won re-election to a second term.[1] The election is officially nonpartisan, though candidates can affiliate with a political party.
.jpg)
 | |||||||||||||
May 19, 2026
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
 County results Stephenson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Lynch: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Commissioner Stephenson was favored to win reelection, yet she managed to outperform her electoral success in November 2022. Although the office is formally nonpartisan, Stephenson, a Democrat, managed to carry over half of Oregon's counties in her reelection campaign, even outright winning Josephine County, as well as flipping Coos and Deschutes counties, which she narrowly lost four years earlier. Despite losing them, she also fell just one vote short of flipping Wallowa County and just 87 votes short of flipping Baker County. Stephenson has become the first Democrat or Democratic-endorsed candidate in any contested statewide election to carry Josephine County, and to carry a majority of the Beaver State's counties, since 2004. It also marks the strongest performance of any Democrat or Democratic-endorsed candidate in any Eastern Oregon counties in a contested statewide race since then.
Candidates
Declared
- Chris Lynch, former bureau of labor and industries investigator[2]
- Christina Stephenson, incumbent commissioner (2022–present)[3]
Endorsements
Results
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christina Stephenson (incumbent) | 595,583 | 63.22 | |
| Chris Lynch | 341,903 | 36.29 | |
| Write-in | 4,535 | 0.49 | |
| Total votes | 942,021 | 100.00 | |
By county
| County[6] | Christina Stephenson Democratic |
Chris Lynch Nonpartisan |
Write-in Various |
Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Baker | 2,233 | 48.92% | 2,320 | 50.82% | 12 | 0.26% | -87 | -1.91% | 4,565 |
| Benton | 16,234 | 71.99% | 6,222 | 27.59% | 93 | 0.41% | 10,012 | 44.40% | 22,549 |
| Clackamas | 61,217 | 60.71% | 39,268 | 38.95% | 344 | 0.34% | 21,949 | 21.77% | 100,829 |
| Clatsop | 6,336 | 63.96% | 3,534 | 35.68% | 36 | 0.36% | 2,802 | 28.29% | 9,906 |
| Columbia | 7,302 | 53.05% | 6,300 | 45.77% | 162 | 1.18% | 1,002 | 7.28% | 13,764 |
| Coos | 8,760 | 53.72% | 7,460 | 45.75% | 86 | 0.53% | 1,300 | 7.97% | 16,306 |
| Crook | 3,278 | 44.28% | 4,077 | 55.07% | 48 | 0.65% | -799 | -10.79% | 7,403 |
| Curry | 3,598 | 56.87% | 2,689 | 42.50% | 40 | 0.63% | 909 | 14.37% | 6,327 |
| Deschutes | 37,630 | 65.20% | 19,906 | 34.49% | 182 | 0.32% | 17,724 | 30.71% | 57,718 |
| Douglas | 12,338 | 47.53% | 13,400 | 51.62% | 223 | 0.86% | -1,062 | -4.09% | 25,961 |
| Gilliam | 247 | 45.91% | 289 | 53.72% | 2 | 0.37% | -42 | -7.81% | 538 |
| Grant | 801 | 39.95% | 1,186 | 59.15% | 18 | 0.90% | -385 | -19.20% | 2,005 |
| Harney | 776 | 39.45% | 1,177 | 59.84% | 14 | 0.71% | -401 | -20.39% | 1,967 |
| Hood River | 4,678 | 72.49% | 1,740 | 26.96% | 35 | 0.54% | 2,938 | 45.53% | 6,453 |
| Jackson | 28,432 | 59.72% | 18,977 | 39.86% | 196 | 0.41% | 9,455 | 19.86% | 47,605 |
| Jefferson | 2,580 | 48.51% | 2,699 | 50.74% | 40 | 0.75% | -119 | -2.24% | 5,319 |
| Josephine | 10,281 | 54.21% | 8,616 | 45.43% | 67 | 0.35% | 1,665 | 8.78% | 18,964 |
| Klamath | 7,172 | 46.12% | 8,307 | 53.42% | 71 | 0.46% | -1,135 | -7.30% | 15,550 |
| Lake | 815 | 38.46% | 1,277 | 60.26% | 27 | 1.27% | -462 | -21.80% | 2,119 |
| Lane | 62,272 | 66.63% | 30,650 | 32.79% | 542 | 0.58% | 31,622 | 33.83% | 93,464 |
| Lincoln | 9,269 | 66.12% | 4,686 | 33.43% | 64 | 0.46% | 4,583 | 32.69% | 14,019 |
| Linn | 14,745 | 48.61% | 15,364 | 50.65% | 222 | 0.73% | -619 | -2.04% | 30,331 |
| Malheur | 2,002 | 45.54% | 2,377 | 54.07% | 17 | 0.39% | -375 | -8.53% | 4,396 |
| Marion | 36,989 | 55.45% | 29,359 | 44.01% | 358 | 0.54% | 7,630 | 11.44% | 66,706 |
| Morrow | 941 | 45.07% | 1,122 | 53.74% | 25 | 1.20% | -181 | -8.67% | 2,088 |
| Multnomah | 128,675 | 79.45% | 32,819 | 20.26% | 462 | 0.29% | 95,856 | 59.19% | 161,956 |
| Polk | 12,691 | 56.26% | 9,732 | 43.14% | 134 | 0.59% | 2,959 | 13.12% | 22,557 |
| Sherman | 188 | 40.34% | 276 | 59.23% | 2 | 0.43% | -88 | -18.88% | 466 |
| Tillamook | 4,611 | 57.42% | 3,367 | 41.93% | 53 | 0.66% | 1,244 | 15.49% | 8,031 |
| Umatilla | 5,585 | 47.71% | 6,058 | 51.75% | 63 | 0.54% | -473 | -4.04% | 11,706 |
| Union | 3,137 | 46.88% | 3,524 | 52.66% | 31 | 0.46% | -387 | -5.78% | 6,692 |
| Wallowa | 1,396 | 49.77% | 1,397 | 49.80% | 12 | 0.43% | -1 | -0.04% | 2,805 |
| Wasco | 3,411 | 55.60% | 2,701 | 44.03% | 23 | 0.37% | 710 | 11.57% | 6,135 |
| Washington | 78,540 | 67.73% | 36,728 | 31.67% | 692 | 0.60% | 41,812 | 36.06% | 115,960 |
| Wheeler | 155 | 38.18% | 246 | 60.59% | 5 | 1.23% | -91 | -22.41% | 406 |
| Yamhill | 16,268 | 57.17% | 12,053 | 42.36% | 134 | 0.47% | 4,215 | 14.81% | 28,455 |
| Totals | 595,583 | 63.22% | 341,903 | 36.29% | 4,535 | 0.49% | 253,680 | 26.93% | 942,021 |