Oregon

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Oregon provided little drama in the presidential race, with President Obama winning the state’s seven electoral votes. Once viewed as a swing state, Oregon has shifted leftward in recent years and has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the last seven elections.

Three of Oregon’s five Congressional seats remained comfortably in the Democrats’ column, while the Second District, in the eastern part of the state, remained Republican.

But because of redistricting, the Fifth District, in the Willamette Valley, south of Portland, was more competitive. The two-term Democrat Kurt Schrader defeated Fred Thompson, a Republican businessman.

While Congress is often accused of gridlock, Oregon has perhaps the most evenly divided state government in the country, and that has hampered efforts to fix the state’s budget problems. The Democrats have a 16-to-14 edge in the State Senate and taking a 34-to-26 edge in the House of Representatives, compared with the 30 seats each party has now. Gov. John A. Kitzhaber is also a Democrat.

Among the measures on the ballot, voters rejected an initiative to allow individuals to grow marijuana without a license and to establish a commission to regulate its commercial cultivation and sale. Supporters claimed those measures could raise tens of millions of dollars in taxes and reduce law-enforcement costs. Voters in Colorado and Washington approved similar laws.

An initiative that would have prohibited new real estate transfer taxes was also approved.