Oregon primary: Click here for election results

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Democrats have high hopes for the Oregon primary, being only one seat away from a three-fifths majority in both the state House and Senate.

Close races are anticipated Tuesday, especially in a number of legislative districts, including key seats in the state Senate.

And both Republicans and Democrats are watching the outcome of the gubernatorial primary as a bellwether for conservative Oregonians. The front-runners include two Bend residents – state Rep. Knute Buehler and businessman Sam Carpenter — as well as Greg Wooldridge of Portland The winner likely would face incumbent Democrat Kate Brown, who faces no substantial opposition in her primary.

As the first statewide regular election since the 2017 inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the primary is also widely seen as a referendum on which candidates are appealing to GOP voters.

There are also a host of party primaries, other races and measures on the Central Oregon ballots.

Despite all that, interest in the primary election is low, with 23 percent of ballots returned so far, according to the Oregon Elections Division, including nearly 30 percent in Crook County, nearly 28 percent in Deschutes and more than 26 percent in Jefferson, according to Tuesday morning’s statewide ballot tally.

We will have results of the local and state races and measures on NewsChannel 21 First at Ten on Fox and 11 on NBC.

The state Elections Division has a site linking to all statewide and county results, at http://results.oregonvotes.gov