KATU poll: Brown leads Buehler; undecided rules labor commissioner race
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Secretary of State Democrat Kate Brown leads her Republican challenger, Knute Buehler, by eight points, according to a KATU News/SurveyUSA poll released Thursday.
Brown received 48 percent of the vote while Buehler garnered 40 percent.
In contrast to a poll commissioned for The Oregonian and released earlier in the week, the number of voters who are still undecided in the race in KATU's poll is significantly smaller.
Elway Research of Seattle polled likely voters Oct. 25-28 and found that 36 percent were undecided, but in SurveyUSA’s poll only 7 percent said they were undecided.
Additionally, The Oregonian poll found that Brown led Buehler by 15 points. With fewer people undecided, KATU's poll shows a narrower race.
Not surprisingly, the candidates lead among their respective party members. But Brown does well among women, leading Buehler by 19 points. Buehler, by contrast, only leads men by 5 points.
In the state labor commissioner race, which has been low on the radar for many voters, 40 percent of those surveyed said they hadn't made up their minds.
Twenty-nine percent of poll respondents threw their support behind incumbent Brad Avakian, while 31 percent said they supported his challenger Bruce Starr. But the results were well within the poll's margin of error of 4.3 percentage points, so the candidates are essentially even and the race is too close to call.
Voters who need help deciding between the two men can read transcribed interviews KATU.com conducted last week with the candidates. Links to each candidates’ websites are also provided.
As in previous SurveyUSA polls conducted for KATU, pollsters also asked about Measure 80, which would legalize marijuana, and measures 82 and 83, which deal with establishing privately owned casinos in the state and in Wood Village.
Voter sentiment on the marijuana issue was unchanged from two weeks ago. Those who oppose allowing adults to grow and possess marijuana and allowing state-licensed stores to grow it still led by 7 points.
As in previous polls, voters showed little support for the two casino measures in Thursday's poll. Only 31 percent of respondents supported Measure 82, which would allow privately owned casinos, and the same percentage of respondents supported Measure 83, which would allow a privately owned casino in Wood Village.
Finally, Measure 85, which will allow the corporate "kicker" to be used to help fund K-12 schools, will pass, according to the poll. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed supported the measure, 32 percent opposed it and 18 percent were undecided.
The SurveyUSA poll is significant because in addition to surveying likely voters, it also surveyed those who have already voted.
Ballots in Oregon are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6 at an official drop-off site.
Good that I wrote in Micky Mouse for Commissioner.Â
Brown is out of her depth and Buehler has already said he has no respect for the constitutional limitations of his office. SO two losers in this race.
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Avakian and Starr are both political hacks: Avakian is agressively pro worker while Starr is agressively pro-employer. Partisanship in this office is a REALLY bad idea, so again, two losers in this election.
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Note to the Democratic and Republican parties of Oregon: Seriously, this is the best you've got?
 @ShallowEnder Can't remember - was it this race or Attorney General where the Progressive or Green party was running a PCC student?
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You might not like these choices, but lo and behold, it can get worse.
To insure that this State continues to stagnate, keep electing these same idealogical crackpots!
Of course, Portland and the I-5 corridor does not have enough common sense to vote out any sort of corruption, people vote straight dem tickets regardless.
 @pdxranger1 The PMA is the deciding demographic in the state of OR, it doesn't extend any farther down 'the I-5 corridor' than Lake Oswego & Wilsonville.Â
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I don't know that it should surprise you, or anyone else, that it is that way. The single largest employer in the state of Oregon is.... well.... the state of Oregon. As a result, the various public employees unions dump billions into contested races, and promote scare-tactic and fear-mongering campaigns that are slanted towards decidedly democratic candidates. No matter the race, the office, or the candidates. I'd say it's less about common sense, and more about not biting the hand that feeds you. Oregon, however, is not immune to fiscal reality, and people need look no further than our southern border neighbors to see what is coming soon to Oregon.
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You are correct in one thing, though. The PMA is a decidedly left leaning demographic. Which is why OR isn't on the RADAR for any national elections. The state is considered a 'safe blue' state.Â
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@pdxranger1 Oh so, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Ashland, Medford all vote straight democrat tickets? And what about those that vote straight republican tickets? Of the candidates I'm voting for in the state of Oregon, the majority that I am voting for are individuals that I've met and spoken with regarding what they want to see for the state of Oregon, and I see that their visions similarly match what I hope to see for Oregon, regardless of party ticket.
 @pdxd  @pdxranger1 No, the towns you mention don't matter regardless of how they vote. How Roseburg, Grants Pass, Ashland, Medford, Burns, Pendleton, Ontario, Baker City, La Grande, Klamath Falls, Bend, The Dalles, Prineville, Redmond, and all the rest vote is irrelevant. Portland, and Eugene which is even farther to the left, control Oregon. The rest of the state doesn't matter. If you doubt that, ask Portlanders to locate the towns I mentioned on a map. Doubtful half will get them anywhere near the correct spot on a map, let alone care about them.
 @pdxd  @pdxranger1 I am not going to sugarcoat this, most people in the state of Oregon know it's very difficult to win an election with a R next to your name. We also know that a lot of the I-5 corridor has a denser population and has for some time now been more liberal while east of the cascades is mostly the opposite.Â
@pdxranger1 So it's the democrats fault that less people live east of the Cascades?
Vote for Buehler....He is the right one for the job.
 @sortbait Certainly way less wrong then the liberal Kate wanting to give us more of the same...more taxes, more government spending, more government employees...