There were no signs that Republican Christina Drazan was improving on her vote totals over recent days that would have enabled her to overtake Democrat Tina Kotek in the Oregon governor's race.
That's what led the AP to call the race Thursday night for Kotek over Drazan and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.
Even without factoring votes coming in from areas that favored Kotek, there still wasn't enough room for Drazan to make up the difference.
Kotek joins Maura Healey, elected Tuesday as governor of Massachusetts, in making history as the nation's first openly lesbian elected governors.
Oregon hasn’t had a Republican governor since the 1980s and is typically reliably Democratic in statewide contests. But this year’s race to succeed term-limited incumbent Democrat Kate Brown had Republicans hopeful and Democrats worried.
President Joe Biden campaigned for Kotek in the closing weeks of the campaign, highlighting the race's importance to Democrats.
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Reach Mike Catalini at http://twitter.com/mikecatalini and Meg Kinnard at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
