Oregon 2026 Elections for Landlords: Close Races, the Portland Metro Ballot, and How to Weigh In
If you own rentals in Oregon, November 3 is not a civics worksheet. It is the veto pen on the next Chapter 90 bill, the Senate math on a revenue increase, and — if you own inside Portland — the six people who will sit on Title 30, relocation assistance, and the Housing and Permitting Committee for the next four years.
This is not a ranked landlord-friendly slate. PAROA does not tell you who to mark. The August governor article still holds the Kotek and Drazan record file. This piece is the Oregon 2026 elections landlords map: races where a returned ballot can still move something, plus the Portland-metro legislative roster so you are not guessing at district numbers on the kitchen table.
Find your district first at oregonlegislature.gov/FindYourLegislator. Register or update by October 13. Ballots mail in mid-October. Election Day is November 3. Official how-to-vote page: sos.oregon.gov/voting.
Why close seats matter more than safe ones
A governor does not write every line of ORS Chapter 90. A governor signs or vetoes it, picks the housing and revenue directors, and sets the emergency orders. The Senate is 18-12 Democratic. Majority is 16. A bill that raises revenue needs three-fifths, which is 18 Senate votes. Flip one Democratic Senate seat and that 18-vote line is gone even if Democrats still hold the chamber. The House is 37-23 Democratic. Portland City Council is 6-6. Districts 3 and 4 elect three each by ranked choice. Quota is 25 percent plus one. Rank the ballot.
Governor: the only statewide race that is actually tied
Rematch: Gov. Tina Kotek (D / Working Families) vs Sen. Christine Drazan (R / Libertarian) vs Brett Smith (Pacific Green). OPB/DHM surveyed likely voters September 17-27 and published September 30. After leaners: Drazan 47, Kotek 46, Smith 3, margin plus or minus 3.24. That is a statistical tie.
What changed since the August PAROA article: DAS published the 2027 maximums on September 28 — 10 percent on the ordinary ORS 90.323 track, 6 percent still on large parks and marinas over 30 spaces. First joint debate: October 1, Oregon Journalism Project, Eugene.
Get involved: tinafororegon.com ; christinefororegon.com ; brett-smith.us. Every Oregon candidate committee files in ORESTAR.
and now a couple shameless plugs.
If you want the statute, the form, and the other owner who already tripped on the same 90-day notice, that is what the Portland Area Rental Owners Association (PAROA) is for. Membership gets you current landlord forms, education that tracks the actual Oregon and Portland rules, and a Helpline that still answers when a cap notice or a deposit accounting question shows up on a Tuesday. Elections change the temperature. They do not replace a checklist. Join at www.paroa.org.
Owners in the Portland Metro and Central Oregon who would rather not live inside that checklist every week can hand the operations to Northwest Real Estate and Property Management (NWRPM). Rent-cap math, Portland relocation triggers, and insurance renewals are easier when someone whose job is the file is watching the calendar. www.nwrpm.com
Portland-metro state Senate seats on this ballot
SD-13 Courtney Neron Misslin vs Glenn Lancaster. SD-15 Myrna Munoz vs Harold Hutchison. SD-17 Lisa Reynolds vs John Chee. SD-19 Rob Wagner vs Mary Dirksen. SD-20 Mark Meek vs Michele Stroh (Meek won by 0.81 in 2022). SD-24 Kayse Jama unopposed on the Republican line. SD-26 Nicole Bassett vs Jeff Helfrich (Drazan open seat).
Portland-metro state House seats on this ballot
All 60 House seats are up. If you only have time for three House conversations besides the governor line, make them HD-52 Hank Sanders vs Scott Hege (open Gorge swing), HD-40 Michael Sugar vs Adam Baker (open Clackamas), and HD-48 Lamar Wise vs Andrew Morrison. Full roster is in the package file and should be restored as tables in the Wix editor.
Portland city races
On the city ballot: Auditor Simone Rede, three District 3 seats (21 candidates including incumbents Steve Novick, Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane), and three District 4 seats (12 candidates including incumbents Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman, Mitch Green). Official list: portland.gov/auditor/elections/run4office/2026-city-candidates. Rank every seat. Quota is 25 percent plus one.
Close races outside the safe Portland column
HD-52 Gorge open. SD-26 same corridor, Helfrich leaving the House to run. SD-3 Medford/Ashland open, Golden won 51.9-48.0 in 2022. HD-22 Woodburn, Munoz won by 161 votes in 2024. HD-21 Salem/Keizer Mannix 51.8-48.0. SD-11 open after Thatcher Measure 113 bar, Stapleton vs Cramer.
How Oregon 2026 elections landlords can weigh in without a PAC mailer
Look up the district. Read the vote file, not the slogan. Rank the city ballot. Return the mail ballot. Then give through the statewide landlord PAC if you want one check instead of twenty.
The Oregon Rental Housing Association (ORHA) is PAROA parent group. Its political committee is the Oregon Rental Housing KEY PAC (ORH Key-PAC). That committee sits apart from the ORHA board. After the lobbyist and legislative director weigh a candidate housing votes — not the party label — it writes the checks. That is the industry one statewide vehicle for legislative races. It is not a PAROA endorsement of any name on this ballot.
Donate online: oregonrentalhousingpac.org/donate Mail a check to Oregon Rental Housing Key PAC, PO Box 512, Independence, OR 97351. Questions: info@oregonrentalhousingpac.org
Oregon still offers a political contribution tax credit for qualifying filers: up to $50 single or $100 joint, and you cannot claim it if federal AGI is over $75,000 single or $150,000 joint. Confirm the current cap with your CPA. If you would rather give to a candidate directly, use the campaign site or the committee in ORESTAR.
and now a couple shameless plugs.
A returned ballot does not write your 90-day notice. PAROA still has the forms, the Helpline, and the other owner who already ran the same clock. Join at www.paroa.org.
If the operating box is already more than you want to run from the kitchen table in Portland Metro or Central Oregon, NWRPM watches the calendar. www.nwrpm.com
Christian Bryant
President of both the Portland Area Rental Owners Association (PAROA)
and Northwest Real Estate and Property Management (NWRPM).
Join PAROA before the ballots go out if you want the form and the Helpline in the same week the 2027 cap notices start getting drafted.
Use NWRPM if the operating box is already more than you want to run from the kitchen table.
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