The short version
Oregon nominates partisan candidates through the May primary. You get on the ballot by filing a candidate filing form and either paying a filing fee or submitting signatures in lieu of the fee. Minor-party and nonaffiliated candidates nominate under their own statutes for the general election.
- Offices you can run for
- Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and other state officials); the Oregon Senate and House; county and city offices; and (nonpartisan) judicial seats.
- How to get on the ballot
- File your declaration of candidacy with the designated filing officer by the deadline and pay the filing fee — or submit the required number of petition signatures instead of the fee. State candidates can file electronically through ORESTAR. The State Candidate Manual lists the fee and signature counts by office.
- Who runs candidate filing
- Oregon Secretary of State — Elections Division
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office; the official Oregon resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.
Find your Oregon county
Every county runs its own filing office and its own local races. See all 36 Oregon counties, each with its election office, fees, deadlines and local facts.
Official Oregon candidate resources
Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle. Note: 2026 filing has closed in most states, so these resources govern the standing rules; check the official calendar for your next filing window.
Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.
Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. Oregon is fully available; see how to get your voter file.
Talk to us about your Oregon race
Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors": voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.