The 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Oregon. The incumbent governor, Democrat Kate Brown, took office on February 18, 2015, upon the resignation of John Kitzhaber. She was subsequently elected in the gubernatorial special election in 2016, and was re-elected to a full term in 2018. Due to term limits, she was ineligible for re-election in 2022. The Oregonian anticipated the election to have "the first competitive Democratic primary in more than a decade and potentially the closest such race since 2002." Willamette Week anticipated a "wide open field of Democrats", citing the lack of an incumbent. Almost 20 Republican Party candidates ran for the office, including two previous nominees for governor in 1998 and 2016, as well as 15 Democrats and some non-affiliates/third-party members. In the May 17 primary elections, former Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek was declared the winner of the Democratic primary half an hour after the ballot deadline. The next day, former House Minority Leader Christine Drazan was determined to have won the Republican primary. Notably, the general election featured three prominent female candidates, including former state senator Betsy Johnson, who was a moderate Democrat, running as an independent. Oregon was considered a possible Republican pickup, as Brown had the lowest approval rating of any governor in the United States at the time and Johnson could have siphoned votes from Kotek. Nonetheless, Kotek won the election by a slim margin, becoming Oregon's 7th consecutive Democratic governor. She became one of the first lesbian governors in the United States, along with Maura Healey in Massachusetts. Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Tina Kotek, former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives (2013–2022) Eliminated in primary David Beem, former member of the Oregon Disabilities Commission Julian Bell, critical care and pulmonary medicine specialist and candidate for governor in 2016 Wilson Bright, retired textile company operator George Carrillo, program manager at the Oregon Health Authority and Marine Corps veteran Michael Cross, software designer, commercial driver, and Republican nominee for Oregon attorney general in 2020 Ifeanyichukwu Diru, farmer and candidate for governor in 2014 Peter Hall, Haines city councilor and member of the Board of Directors of the League of Oregon Cities Keisha Merchant, artist and creative designer Tobias Read, Oregon state treasurer (endorsed Tina Kotek in the general election) Patrick Starnes, former Independent Party of Oregon candidate for governor (2018) David Stauffer,