2010 United States Senate election in Oregon

The 2010 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden won re-election to a third full term by a landslide margin of 18 points, despite the national Republican midterm wave. As of 2022, this last senate election where Deschutes County voted for the Republican candidate (albeit by a plurality).

2010 United States Senate election in Oregon

← 2004 November 2, 2010 2016 →

Nominee Ron Wyden Jim Huffman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 825,507 566,199 Percentage 57.22% 39.25%

County results Wyden:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Huffman:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Ron Wyden Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Pavel Goberman, fitness instructor and mentalist, perennial candidate^[1]
• Loren Hooker, farmer^[1]
• Ron Wyden, incumbent U.S. Senator

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Ron Wyden	Loren Hooker	Pavel Goberman	Undecided
Survey USA[2]	May 7–9, 2010	80%	9%	4%	8%

Results

Oregon Democratic U.S. Senate primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ronald Wyden (Incumbent)	323,652	89.55%
	Democratic	Loren Hooker	25,152	6.75%
	Democratic	Pavel Goberman	9,985	2.68%
	Democratic	Write Ins	3,782	1.02%
Total votes			376,353	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Shane Dinkel, U.S. Army officer and farm worker^[1]
• Jim Huffman, Lewis & Clark Law School law professor^[4]
• Loren Later, businessman^[1]
• Robin Parker, businessman^[1]
• Thomas Stutzman, real estate broker^[1]
• Keith Waldron, farmer and truck driver^[1]
• Walter Woodland, woodworker^[1]

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Jim Huffman	Thomas Stutzman	Keith Waldron	Robin Parker	Undecided
Survey USA[2]	May 7–9, 2010	20%	11%	9%	6%	43%

Results

Results by county

Huffman

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Dinkel

•   20–30%

Oregon Republican U.S. Senate primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Huffman	110,450	41.70
	Republican	Loren Later	39,753	15.01
	Republican	G. Shane Dinkel	36,760	13.88
	Republican	Thomas Stutzman	31,859	12.03
	Republican	Keith Waldron	24,602	9.29
	Republican	Robin Parker	14,637	5.53
	Republican	Walter Woodland	4,417	1.67
		Miscellaneous	2,363	0.89
Total votes			264,841	100

General election

Candidates

• Bruce Cronk (Working Families), retired electrician^[5]
• Marc Delphine (Libertarian), financial planner and LGBT and Tea Party activist^[5][6]
• Jim Huffman (Republican), Lewis & Clark Law School law professor^[5]
• Rick Staggenborg (Progressive), physician and founder of Soldiers For Peace^[5]
• Ron Wyden (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator^[5]

Campaign

Wyden, a popular incumbent with a 52% approval rating in a July poll,^[7] touted bipartisanship and promised to hold town-hall meetings annually in each of Oregon's 36 counties and to open offices outside of Portland and Salem.^[8] A Survey USA poll taken a few days before the election showed that 23% of Republicans supported Wyden.^[9]

Huffman, widely considered as an underdog, financed his own campaign. He defended bonuses for Wall Street executives and questioned global warming.^[10]

Debates

The first debate took place on October 21, 2010, in Medford, Oregon and was broadcast by KOBI-TV. Only the two major-party candidates, Huffman and Wyden, participated in the debate.^[11] The second debate, which was hosted by the City Club of Portland at the Governor Hotel, took place on October 22. The debate played live on KOIN and re-aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting later that night.^[12]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report[13]	Solid D	October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[14]	Safe D	October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[15]	Likely D	October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[16]	Safe D	October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[17]	Safe D	October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Jim Huffman (R)	Ron Wyden (D)
Rasmussen Reports[18]	February 16, 2010	35%	49%
Rasmussen Reports[19]	May 24, 2010	38%	51%
Survey USA[20]	June 7–9, 2010	38%	51%
Rasmussen Reports[21]	June 17, 2010	37%	47%
Davis, Hibbits and Midghall[22]	June 21, 2010	32%	50%
Rasmussen Reports[23]	July 26, 2010	35%	51%
Survey USA[24]	July 25–27, 2010	35%	53%
Rasmussen Reports[25]	August 22, 2010	36%	56%
Rasmussen Reports[26]	September 8, 2010	35%	53%
Survey USA[27]	September 12–14, 2010	38%	54%
Rasmussen Reports[28]	October 10, 2010	36%	52%
Survey USA[29]	October 12–14, 2010	34%	56%
Public Policy Polling[30]	October 17, 2010	40%	56%
Rasmussen Reports[28]	October 25, 2010	42%	53%
Survey USA[31]	October 23–28, 2010	32%	57%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand	Debt
Ron Wyden (D)	$5,529,660	$4,820,297	$1,827,374	$0
James Huffman (R)	$2,227,784	$1,576,662	$651,118	$1,350,000
Marc Delphine (L)	$4,728	$4,805	$221	$0
Source: Federal Election Commission[32]

Results

General election results^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ronald Wyden (Incumbent)	825,507	57.22%
	Republican	Jim Huffman	566,199	39.25%
	Working Families	Bruce Cronk	18,940	1.31%
	Libertarian	Marc Delphine	16,028	1.11%
	Progressive	Rick Staggenborg	14,466	1.00%
	Write-in		1,448	0.10%
Total votes			1,442,588	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Baker (largest city: Baker City)
• Crook (largest city: Prineville)
• Curry (largest city: Brookings)
• Douglas (largest city: Roseburg)
• Deschutes (largest city: Bend)
• Jefferson (largest city: Madras)
• Josephine (largest city: Grants Pass)
• Klamath (largest city: Klamath Falls)
• Lake (largest city: Lakeview)
• Linn (largest city: Albany)
• Morrow (largest city: Boardman)
• Sherman (largest city: Wasco)
• Umatilla (largest city: Hermiston)
• Union (largest city: La Grande)
• Wallowa (largest city: Enterprise)
• Wheeler (largest city: Fossil)