Oregon Public Broadcasting

Some of Oregon's contested elections are settling into place. Democrats can still count on a strong majority in the legislature, but one Oregon House contest has gone from blue to red.

Last week, Democrat Toby Forsberg appeared to be winning House District 39, covering Canby, Oregon City, and Barlow.

The latest tally shows Republican Bill Kennemer ahead by four hundred fifty seven votes. Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall says about 3500 ballots remain uncounted.

Sherry Hall: "The group of ballots that are left are the bad signatures, which are the ones that the signatures doesn't match what we have on file, and voters have until Friday of this week at 5PM to get in to make it right."

Hall thinks the race will not be close enough to trigger a recount.

The seat, formerly held by Wayne Scott, is one that Republicans want to keep.  But even without it, Democrats still picked up enough seats to substantially increase their voting block as the session begins next year. 

Kennemer isn't put off by the Blue Wave. He says he'll draw on prior experience in the state senate, where his party was outnumbered for eight of his ten years.

Bill Kennemer:  "You know, eventually I got to where I figured it out. You can throw rocks, or you can work under the radar. I felt really good about those latter years in the minority."

Oregon election results will be finalized by November 24th.