Who's running for office in the May 2026 primary election?

From Congress to the smallest local Precinct Committee Persons in Forest Grove, Banks and Gales Creek, here are the candidates seeking to represent their neighbors in elected and party positions in the May 19 primary election in this newspaper's territory. The deadline to file to run for a position closed March 3. The deadline to withdraw from a race is March 13, so some candidates may not be on the ballot; we will note any changes as they occur.

Washington County District 4, representing Forest Grove and Banks, is the most hotly contested seat of any county race, with six people vying for the open seat, which will be vacated by incumbent Jerry Willey when his term ends.

For the sake of brevity, this story will examine legislative and county races, not judicial ones.

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Congress

U.S. Senator

Democrat

Jeff Merkley (incumbent), Paul Damian Wells

Republican

David A Burch, Russell McAlmond, Douglas T Muck Jr, Jo Rae Perkins, Timothy Skelton

U.S. Representative, 1st District

Democrat

Suzanne Bonamici (incumbent)

Republican

John Verbeek

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State

Governor

Democrat

Tina Kotek (incumbent), Forest (Fora) Alexander, James Atkinson IV, Donnie M Beckwith, David W Beem, Brittany Jones, Cal Kishawi, Steve William Laible, Tristan Sheppard

Republican

Danielle Bethell, Ed Diehl, Christine Drazan, Chris Dudley, Kyle M Duyck, David Medina, Robert Neuman, Brad T Peters, Matthew Piatt, Paul J Romero Jr, DeAngelo Leroy Turner, Wen Waddell, Martin Ward, Tim O Youker

Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries

(Nonpartisan)

Christina E Stephenson (incumbent), Chris Lynch

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Oregon House and Senate

State Senator, District 15

Democrat

Janeen Sollman (incumbent), Myrna A Munoz

State Senator, District 16

Democrat

Rachel Armitage, Aaron Dickie, Jordan Gutierrez

Republican

Courtney Bangs, Tripp Dietrich, Frank A Mansfield

State Representative, House District 29

Democrat

Susan McLain (incumbent), Mark Watson

State Representative, House District 31

Republican

Darcey Edwards (incumbent)

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County

Washington County District Attorney

(Nonpartisan)

Kevin Barton (incumbent)

Washington County Chair

Nonpartisan

Pam Treece, Nafisa Fai

County Commissioner, District 4

Nonpartisan

Ayla Hofler, Kimberly Culbertson, Anthony Martin, Steve Callaway, Paul Schaefer, Kipperlyn Sinclair

County Auditor

(Nonpartisan)

Kristine Adams-Wannberg (incumbent)

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Precincts

Precinct boundaries defy this newspaper’s typical geographical classifications. Thanks to the rural nature of many of the precincts in our coverage area, you’ll find sprawling boundaries that loop in many disparate communities. I have endeavored to split them as best as I can, but please refer to the linked and embedded map to gain a better understanding of precinct boundaries.

The county’s reporting of candidates was last updated Feb. 27.

Precinct 301: Timber, Gales Creek, Glenwood, Hillside, David Hill, Buxton, Manning, Cedar Canyon, Satellite

Republican

Nine positions were available; only one filed; Ayla Hofler, who is also running for Washington County Commissioner District 4.

Democrat

Tom Lum Forest was the sole candidate for the nine available positions.

Precinct 305: Banks

Republican

Marilyn McCalister, a Banks city councilor, was the sole candidate in a slate that could have had up to five candidates.

Democrat

Gary R Harris was the sole candidate to file for one of five seats.

Precinct 310: Watts, Dilley, rural Forest Grove, Fern Hill, Spring Hill

No candidates filed for three open positions for either party.

Precinct 312: Gales Creek, Hagg Lake, Dilley, Watts, Seghers, Patton Valley

Republican

Eight positions are available; Randy Copley, a Gales Creek resident, was the sole candidate as of press time.

Democrat

Deborah Shreve and Kathe Welch are candidates, leaving six open positions.

Precinct 316: Roy, Greenville, Mountaindale, Pumpkin Ridge

Republican

Mark Linkmeyer, Scott Powell, and Guy M Putman filed for three of eight seats.

Democrat

No candidates filed for eight open positions.

Precinct 326: Tophill, Bacona, Buxton, Manning, Dixie Mountain, Mountaindale

Republican

Bergh Bechen was the sole candidate in a precinct with nine open positions.

Democrat

No candidates filed for nine open positions.

Precinct 339: East Forest Grove

Republican

No candidates filed for any of the 31 positions.

Democrat

Martha Rampton was the sole candidate. The precinct has 31 open seats.

Precinct 340: West Forest Grove

Republican

No candidates filed for any of the 36 positions.

Democrat

Cynthia Branger Muñoz, Dale Feik, Linda Feik and Dawn Jones filed to fill just a handful of the available 36 seats.

Precinct 342: Purdin and also a random field south and west of Knox Ridge Park

No candidates filed for two open positions from either party.

Precinct 347: Geiger Road, Fern Hill Road

No candidates filed for two open positions from either party.

Precinct 422: Who draws these things? Largely uninhabited strips of land bordering north Forest Grove and Cornelius

No candidates filed for two open positions from either party.

Precinct 443: Banks East

Republican

No candidates filed for the two available positions where the Aerts Addition development is being constructed.

Democrat

No candidates filed for two open positions.

Precinct 450: Verboort, Roy

No candidates filed for two open positions from either party.