2012 Oregon Secretary of State election

The 2012 Oregon Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect the Oregon Secretary of State. Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Kate Brown ran for a second term against Republican Knute Buehler. Brown and Buehler ran against each other again in the 2018 Oregon gubernatorial election.^[1]

2012 Oregon Secretary of State election

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →

Nominee Kate Brown Knute Buehler Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 863,656 727,607 Percentage 51.2% 43.2%

County results Congressional district results Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Buehler:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Secretary of State before election Kate Brown Democratic Elected Secretary of State Kate Brown Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Kate Brown, incumbent^[2]
• Paul Damian Wells, machinist^[2]

Results

Democratic Primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kate Brown	284,470	91.1
	Democratic	Paul Damian Wells	26,177	8.4
	Democratic	write-ins	1,510	0.5
Total votes			312,157	100

Republican primary

Candidates

• Knute Buehler, surgeon^[2]

Results

Republican Primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Knute Buehler	199,179	97.76
	Republican	write-ins	4,558	2.24
Total votes			203,737	100

Independent primary

Oregon allows candidates to be cross-nominated by up to three political parties. The Independent Party of Oregon holds a month-long online primary to select which candidate receives their nomination. The party chose candidates in a number of legislative and local races but only one statewide race, Secretary of State.^[5]

Candidates

• Kate Brown, incumbent
• Knute Buehler, surgeon

Results

Independent Party of Oregon primary results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Knute Buehler	348	55.68
	Democratic	Kate Brown	277	44.32
Total votes			625	100

Other candidates

• Bruce Alexander Knight (Libertarian), store manager^[7]
• Robert Wolfe (Progressive), wine salesman^[7]
• Seth Woolley (Pacific Green), software engineer^[7]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin oferror	Kate Brown (D)	Knute Buehler (R, I)	Undecided
The Oregonian[8]	October 25–28, 2012	405	± 5%	38%	23%	36%
DHM Research[9]	October 18–20, 2012	500	± 2.6%–4.4%	43%	37%	15%
Public Policy Polling[10]	June 21–24, 2012	686	± 3.7%	48%	30%	21%

Results

Oregon Secretary of State – General Election Results^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kate Brown	863,656	51.28
	Republican	Knute Buehler	727,607	43.20
	Pacific Green	Seth Woolley	44,235	2.63
	Libertarian	Bruce Alexander Knight	24,273	1.44
	Progressive	Robert Wolfe	21,783	1.29
		write-ins	2,561	0.15
Total votes			1,684,115	100

Results by congressional districts

Brown won four of five congressional districts.^[12]

District	Brown	Buehler	Representative
1st	52%	43%	Suzanne Bonamici
2nd	40%	56%	Greg Walden
3rd	65%	28%	Earl Blumenauer
4th	50%	44%	Peter DeFazio
5th	49%	47%	Kurt Schrader