//Run for office · Oregon

How to run for local office in Oregon

Every Oregon voter gets a ballot in the mail 20 to 14 days before election day, and your county clerk will sell you a voted/not-voted list, so a local race is won during the return window.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Oregon runs every election entirely by mail. County clerks mail a ballot to every active registered voter between the 20th and 14th day before the election (ORS 254.470), voters return it to a drop site by 8 pm or postmark it by election day, and the clerk scans each returned envelope into the statewide voter registration system as it arrives. That scan is public information during the election (ORS 247.948), which means you can buy a list of who has and has not returned a ballot and stop spending money on people who already voted.

Most local offices are nonpartisan and most of them, including every school board, fire, water, parks and other special district board, are elected at the regular district election on the third Tuesday in May of odd-numbered years (ORS 255.335). The next one is May 18, 2027. You file with the county clerk, not the Secretary of State, and the window closes on the 61st day before the election, March 18, 2027 (ORS 255.235). County and city offices run at the May primary and November general of even years unless a charter says otherwise. Campaign finance for every office is filed in ORESTAR with the Secretary of State, and starting January 1, 2027 Oregon has contribution limits for the first time (HB 4024): $3,300 per person per election for local candidates.

Election authority: Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · $500 for the statewide file. Anything smaller (a county, a city, a school district) is a $25 setup fee plus 2.5 cents per 100 records, capped at $500 (OAR 165-002-0020 as stated on the SOS request page and the Clackamas, Clatsop and Multnomah county price lists, checked 2026-09-09). A 20,000-voter school district costs about $30.
Campaign finance: ORESTAR (Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division (ORESTAR))
How voters vote: Every registered voter is mailed a ballot
Registration deadline: 21 days before the election: received by the county or submitted online by 11:59 pm on the 21st day (ORS 247.025). April 27, 2027 for the May 18, 2027 election; October 12, 2027 for November 2, 2027. Oregon has automatic DMV registration but no election-day registration.
Local offices: Nonpartisan: every city, school board and special district office, plus county clerk, sheriff, assessor, treasurer, surveyor, justice of the peace and county judge. County commissioner is partisan unless a home-rule charter or ordinance makes it nonpartisan (ORS 249.002, SOS manual). All nonpartisan county candidates run at the May primary.

Who runs elections in Oregon

Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division The Elections Division publishes the County, City and District Candidate Manual and the filing forms (SEL 101 for county and city, SEL 190 for districts), runs ORESTAR where every candidate committee files, sells the statewide and less-than-statewide voter lists, maintains the Oregon Centralized Voter Registration system (OCVR) that counties update daily, and posts aggregate daily ballot-return statistics during each statewide election. You do not file your candidacy with the Secretary of State for a local office; you file with the county clerk or the city elections officer.

Oregon's 36 county clerks (county elections offices) register voters, mail ballots, run the official drop sites, verify signatures and count ballots. The county clerk is also the filing officer for county offices and for every district board, including school boards and education service districts (ORS 255.235). City council and mayor candidates file with the city elections officer, usually the city recorder or administrator (ORS 221.180). The Secretary of State keeps a directory of all 36 county elections officials.

Getting the Oregon voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Oregon it comes from Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division (statewide and less-than-statewide lists); county elections offices (county lists, labels, walking lists, voted/not-voted lists).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: $500 for the statewide file. Anything smaller (a county, a city, a school district) is a $25 setup fee plus 2.5 cents per 100 records, capped at $500 (OAR 165-002-0020 as stated on the SOS request page and the Clackamas, Clatsop and Multnomah county price lists, checked 2026-09-09). A 20,000-voter school district costs about $30.
Format: Delimited text delivered electronically (SFTP from the Secretary of State; email or flash drive at most counties). Counties can also produce Excel or Access files, hardcopy, mailing labels and precinct walking lists, which the state does not sell.
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Not included
Updated: OCVR is updated daily by the county clerks, so each list you buy is a snapshot. Re-order before the 21-day registration deadline and again once ballots are mailed. The Secretary of State allows 10 business days to fill an order; Clatsop County quotes 24 hours.

Who can get it: Any person may obtain an electronic copy of a statewide or less-than-statewide voter list from the Secretary of State or any county elections official (ORS 247.940-247.945). You sign form SEL 510 agreeing not to use it for commercial purposes.

Permitted use: Political and election use, including mail, calls and canvassing. No commercial use (ORS 247.955). Reselling the list to candidates or political committees for political purposes is expressly not a commercial use, which is why data vendors can carry it.

County option: Yes, and it is the practical route for a city or district race. County elections offices sell county, district and precinct lists at the same $25 plus 2.5 cents per 100 records formula (Multnomah: $5 minimum, $500 maximum, ordered through its Public Records Center portal), and only counties sell hardcopy, labels, walking lists and the voted/not-voted list.

Public fields under ORS 247.948: name, residence and mailing address, party, birth year, precinct, registration date, voting history, and ballot status during an election. Not released: Social Security number, driver license number, signature, birth month and day, and any Address Confidentiality Program address.
Voting history is included at no extra charge on county lists (Clackamas: all elections or specific dates; Multnomah: on request).
Clackamas County states phone numbers are not available on its lists. The SOS FAQ notes that a phone number a voter gives for ballot tracking becomes a public record, so ask your county exactly what it releases.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Oregon

Oregon has three filing officers depending on the office. District boards (school, ESD, fire, water, parks, port, sanitary) file with the county clerk under ORS 255.235: a $10 fee or a short petition, window closes the 61st day before the May election. County offices file with the county clerk under ORS chapter 249: $50 fee or petition, window from the 250th to the 70th day before the May primary. City offices file with the city elections officer: fee and window are set by charter or ordinance, with ORS 221.180 as the default. All filings must be physically received by 5:00:00 pm on the deadline, and since 2026 an elected incumbent seeking the same seat must file 7 days earlier than everyone else.

File with: County clerk (county elections office) for county offices and every district board including school boards (ORS 255.235); the city elections officer, usually the city recorder, for city council and mayor (ORS 221.180). Forms: SEL 101 for county and city, SEL 190 for districts, all on oregonvotes.gov.
Filing fee: $10 for any district board seat (ORS 255.235). $50 for a county office (ORS 249.056). City fees are set by city charter or ordinance; many cities charge none and require a petition instead. Check with your city elections official.
Petition: Instead of the fee: district board, signatures of 25 electors or 10 percent of the district's electors, whichever is less (ORS 255.235); county or city office, the lesser of 500 signatures or 1 percent of the votes cast in the district for Governor at the last full-term election (ORS 249.072). Petition sheets must be approved by the elections official before you circulate, and you must leave time for signature verification before the deadline.
Partisan?: Nonpartisan: every city, school board and special district office, plus county clerk, sheriff, assessor, treasurer, surveyor, justice of the peace and county judge. County commissioner is partisan unless a home-rule charter or ordinance makes it nonpartisan (ORS 249.002, SOS manual). All nonpartisan county candidates run at the May primary.

Filing window: District boards: not sooner than the 40th day before the deadline and not later than the 61st day before a regular district election (third Tuesday in May, odd years), or the 70th day if the district elects at a primary or general (ORS 255.235(2)). For May 18, 2027 that is February 6 through March 18, 2027. County offices: not sooner than the 250th day and not later than the 70th day before the May primary (ORS 249.037); for the May 16, 2028 primary the deadline is March 7, 2028. City offices: not sooner than the 15th day after the primary and not later than the 70th day before the November general unless the charter provides otherwise (ORS 221.180). Elected incumbents seeking re-election to the same office must file at least 7 days before the deadline that applies to everyone else (SEL 190 and the SOS 2027 calendar).

Key Oregon dates
What	When	Note
First day to file, May 18, 2027 regular district election	February 6, 2027	101st day before the election (40 days before the 61st-day deadline), ORS 255.235(2). February 6 is a Saturday; county offices open Monday, February 8.
Filing deadline for elected incumbents, May 2027 district election	March 11, 2027	Elected incumbents seeking the same office must file at least 7 days before the general deadline (SEL 190, SOS 2027 local elections calendar). Appointed incumbents use the regular deadline.
Filing deadline, May 18, 2027 district election (school board, fire, water, parks, ESD)	March 18, 2027	61st day before the election, ORS 255.235(2)(a). Received by 5:00:00 pm at the county clerk. Also the last day to withdraw.
Voter registration deadline, May 18, 2027 election	April 27, 2027	21st day before the election, ORS 247.025; online by 11:59 pm.
Ballots mailed, May 18, 2027 election	April 28, 2027	County clerks mail between the 20th and 14th day before the election, April 28 to May 4, 2027 (ORS 254.470). Plan mail to land the week before.
Election day, regular district election	May 18, 2027	Third Tuesday in May of odd years, ORS 255.335. Drop sites close 8 pm; mailed ballots count if postmarked by election day and received within 7 days.
Filing deadline, November 2, 2027 special election (districts holding a first board election)	September 2, 2027	61st day before the election; SOS 2027 calendar. Only applies to a district's first board election or a measure election; most districts have no November 2027 candidate race.
Filing deadline, county offices, May 16, 2028 primary	March 7, 2028	70th day before the primary, ORS 249.037; elected incumbents by February 29, 2028. Window opens 250 days before the primary (September 9, 2027).

County and city offices are not on the 2027 calendar unless a charter puts them there; most next appear in May and November 2028. Cities whose charter uses a different election adopt the statutory deadlines through ORS 249.722.
You may file for only one lucrative office at the same election; a second filing without withdrawing the first voids both (ORS 249.013).

Campaign finance rules in Oregon

State-level campaign finance in Oregon is overseen by Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division (ORESTAR) through ORESTAR.

Where local candidates file: Every candidate committee in Oregon, from school board to Governor, files its Statement of Organization and all transactions with the Elections Division through ORESTAR (Campaign Finance Manual, rev. 01/2025). There is no separate county or city filing unless a local ordinance adds one; Portland and Multnomah County do. You can skip forming a committee only if you are your own treasurer, have no existing committee, and will not receive or spend more than $1,500 in the calendar year. A committee that expects $5,000 or less in a calendar year may file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures (form PC 7) instead of itemized transactions. Otherwise the Statement of Organization is due within 3 business days of your first contribution or expenditure, or by your candidacy filing deadline, whichever comes first.

Contribution limits: Through December 31, 2026 Oregon has no contribution limits outside Portland and Multnomah County. From January 1, 2027, HB 4024 (2024 Or. Laws ch. 9, section 4) applies the state Representative limits to every candidate for a public office that is not a state office, which covers city, county, school board and special district races: $3,300 per person per election (the primary and general count separately), $2,000 per election from another candidate committee, $5,000 per election cycle from a multicandidate PAC, $15,000 per election from a political party committee, and $5 times the number of donors from a small donor committee. Local governments that already had limits on January 1, 2024 may keep lower ones: Portland allows $613 per individual or political committee per election cycle to candidates for Mayor, Council and Auditor (City Code 2.10.010, inflation-adjusted, per the City Elections Office FAQ), and Multnomah County allows $603 per individual or political committee per county election cycle for Chair, Commissioner, Auditor and Sheriff (MCC 5.200-5.205). Both exempt qualified small donor committees.

Reporting: Each transaction is due in ORESTAR within 30 calendar days. For an election you are active in, transactions from the 42nd day before election day through election day are due within 7 calendar days, and anything earlier that is still unfiled on the 43rd day is due by the 35th day before the election. Contributions must be deposited within 7 business days.

HB 4024's original-source-of-funds disclosure and the Secretary of State's campaign finance dashboard take effect January 1, 2028.
Voters' pamphlet fees and de minimis petition costs under $50 do not count toward the $1,500 no-committee threshold; the candidacy filing fee does.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division (ORESTAR) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Oregon

Every registered voter is mailed a ballot. Every active registered voter is mailed a ballot with a secrecy envelope and a signed return envelope; there are no polling places. Voters return it to an official drop site by 8 pm on election day or mail it with a postmark no later than election day, in which case it counts if received within 7 calendar days (ORS 254.470). County offices issue replacement ballots and provide accessible voting on request.

Early voting: There is no separate early-voting period; the roughly three weeks between the ballot mailing and election day is the voting period. Every county must open drop sites, and each must be open at least 8 hours on election day and until 8 pm (ORS 254.470).
Mail ballots: Mailed to every active voter between the 20th and 14th day before the election; the 18th day at the latest for voters without daily mail service; out-of-state civilian voters may be mailed from the 29th day (ORS 254.470). Voters can track receipt and acceptance on the Secretary of State's My Vote page, and some counties send text or email notices.
Registration deadline: 21 days before the election: received by the county or submitted online by 11:59 pm on the 21st day (ORS 247.025). April 27, 2027 for the May 18, 2027 election; October 12, 2027 for November 2, 2027. Oregon has automatic DMV registration but no election-day registration.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: Oregon law makes 'the ballot status of an elector during an election period' public voter registration information (ORS 247.948), and county clerks scan every returned envelope into OCVR as it arrives, so the list is current to the previous business day. Buy it from your county elections office, not the state. Multnomah County sells a Voted/Not Voted List (names, addresses, party registration, and whether each voter's ballot has been received in the active election) at $25 plus 2.5 cents per 100 records per pull, minimum $5 and maximum $500, ordered through its Public Records Center portal with payment before delivery. Other counties sell the same product under names like 'ballot return list' or 'voter history for the current election' on the same fee formula; ask for a standing order refreshed daily or every other day from the day ballots are mailed, and confirm the cadence and per-pull price with your clerk because neither is published. For context only, the Secretary of State posts aggregate daily ballot-return statistics by county and party on its Election Statistics page during each statewide election, and counties such as Lane post public return dashboards. Those tell you turnout; only the county voter-level list lets you pull people who have already voted out of your mail and walk lists.

In a vote-by-mail state the campaign is won during the return window, not on election day. Read ballot chase in vote-by-mail states for how to work the returned-ballot list every day.

Local government in Oregon: what you can run for

36 counties. Nine have home-rule charters (Lane, Washington, Hood River, Multnomah, Benton, Jackson, Josephine, Clatsop, Umatilla); 29 are governed by an elected board of three to five commissioners and the seven least populous by a county court of a county judge and two commissioners. 241 incorporated cities, all with home-rule authority; most cities over 2,500 people use the council-manager form, smaller ones mayor-council. School districts and education service districts each have an elected board. Hundreds of single-purpose special districts (fire, water, sewer, parks, ports, libraries, cemetery) are governed by elected boards, and Metro is the elected regional government for the Portland area.

City council
Mayor
County commissioner
County clerk, sheriff, assessor, treasurer, surveyor
School board director
Education service district board
Special district board (fire, water, parks, port, sanitary, library)
Metro council (Portland region)
Precinct committeeperson

When local elections happen: Oregon allows four election dates a year: the second Tuesday in March, third Tuesday in May, fourth Tuesday in August, and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (ORS 255.345, ORS 221.230). District boards, including school boards, are elected at the regular district election in May of odd years (May 18, 2027). County and city offices are elected at the May primary and November general of even years (May 16 and November 7, 2028) unless a county or city charter provides otherwise. The 2027 local calendar: March 9, May 18, August 24 and November 2.

Board members elected in May take office July 1 (ORS 255.335).

Running your Oregon campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Oregon today. You upload the Oregon voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Oregon campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Oregon questions we get asked

When is the next local election in Oregon and who is on the ballot?

May 18, 2027, the regular district election held on the third Tuesday in May of odd-numbered years (ORS 255.335). It elects school boards, education service district boards, and the boards of fire, water, parks, port, sanitary and other special districts across Oregon. City councils, mayors and county offices are generally not on the 2027 ballot; they run at the May primary and November general in 2028 unless a charter says otherwise. Ballots for May 18, 2027 are mailed April 28 to May 4, and the registration deadline is April 27.

Where do I file to run for school board or city council in Oregon?

School board and every other district board: with your county clerk (county elections office), using form SEL 190, between February 6 and March 18, 2027 for the May 2027 election, with a $10 fee or a petition of 25 electors or 10 percent of the district's electors, whichever is less (ORS 255.235). City council or mayor: with your city elections officer, usually the city recorder, using SEL 101; the fee and window come from your city charter, with ORS 221.180 as the default. County offices: with the county clerk, $50 or a petition, between the 250th and 70th day before the May primary (ORS 249.037). Nothing for a local Oregon office is filed with the Secretary of State except your campaign finance.

How much does the Oregon voter file cost and what is in it?

Anyone can buy it. The statewide file is $500 from the Secretary of State. A smaller list, which is what a local Oregon candidate needs, is $25 plus 2.5 cents per 100 records from the Secretary of State or your county elections office, so a 20,000-voter district is about $30 and the charge is capped at $500. It comes as delimited text and includes name, residence and mailing address, party, birth year, precinct, registration date and voting history (ORS 247.948). It does not include Social Security or driver license numbers, signatures, birth month and day, or Address Confidentiality Program voters. It may not be used for commercial purposes (ORS 247.955). Counties also sell mailing labels and precinct walking lists, which the state does not.

How do I find out who has already returned their ballot in Oregon?

Buy the voted/not-voted list from your county elections office. Ballot status during an election is public voter registration information under ORS 247.948, and counties scan return envelopes into OCVR daily. Multnomah County sells its Voted/Not Voted List for $25 plus 2.5 cents per 100 records per pull; other Oregon counties sell the equivalent on the same fee formula. Set up a recurring pull from the day ballots are mailed and confirm the refresh cadence and price with your clerk, since they are not published. The Secretary of State's daily ballot-return statistics are county-level aggregates and will not tell you which households to skip.

Are there contribution limits for local candidates in Oregon?

Not until January 1, 2027, except in Portland ($613 per contributor per election cycle) and Multnomah County ($603 per contributor per county election cycle). From January 1, 2027, HB 4024 caps what any Oregon city, county, school board or district candidate may accept at $3,300 per person per election, with the primary and general counted separately, plus $2,000 per election from another candidate committee, $5,000 per cycle from a multicandidate PAC and $15,000 per election from a party committee. If you are raising money in late 2026 for a May 2027 race, the limits attach to contributions received on or after January 1, 2027.

Do I have to file campaign finance reports in ORESTAR for a small Oregon race?

Usually yes, but the small-race exemptions are generous. If you serve as your own treasurer, have no existing committee, and will not raise or spend more than $1,500 in the calendar year, you do not have to form a committee at all. If you form one and expect $5,000 or less in the year, you can file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures (PC 7) instead of itemizing every transaction. Above that, every Oregon candidate files each transaction in ORESTAR within 30 days, or within 7 days once you are inside the 42-day window before your election. All of this is filed with the Secretary of State, not your county or city, unless a local ordinance adds a filing (Portland and Multnomah County do).

When should my mail and door knocking land for an Oregon vote-by-mail election?

Ballots for the May 18, 2027 election go out between April 28 and May 4 (ORS 254.470), and Oregon's May 2026 primary saw returns spike within days of the mailing and again in the final week. Plan your first persuasion piece to arrive the week ballots drop, walk and phone through the return window, and use the county voted/not-voted list to remove voters who have already returned a ballot so the last week of contact goes only to people who still have one on the kitchen table. Voters can mail a ballot as late as election day (postmark rule, received within 7 days) or use a drop site until 8 pm.

Keep reading

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.