Editor’s note: As President Donald Trump takes office, OPB is providing a look over the week surrounding inauguration to understand how Oregonians voted, how they’re feeling now and how the new administration could affect Northwest communities through top issues like immigration, tariffs, criminal justice and the I-5 bridge replacement.
OPB analyzed Associated Press polls of people from Oregon and Washington who voted in November’s election to see how they felt about Donald Trump and the issues. In this Nov. 1, 2024 file photo, ballots move through a signature verification system at the Multnomah County Elections Division office in Portland.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Elected leaders in blue Oregon and Washington have vowed to fight back against overreaching policies from President Donald Trump’s second administration. They’ve also promised to work with the president where they can.
If that seems contradictory, it’s also what the voters in their states seem to want.
OPB analyzed Associated Press polls of people who voted in November’s election. The survey includes more than 4,400 voters split evenly between the two states.
The results show a majority of the region fears Trump’s views are too extreme and questions his moral character. More than 60% of Northwest voters said he lacks the moral character to be president. That is the same percentage of voters who said they’re worried about Trump bringing the United States closer to an authoritarian country.
And yet, on several of the issues voters ranked their highest priority, he’s the one with the most support.
A split like this seems inevitable in politically polarized states. Even though the majority of people in Oregon and Washington voted against Trump, a cohort roughly the size of the Portland metro area’s population opted in to a second term.
But it is not purely a product of political divide. Consider that 12% of the people who deemed Trump’s views as “too extreme” still voted for him. About 40% of the people who said they were “somewhat concerned” about Trump bringing the country toward an authoritarian regime also cast their ballot for him.
In both states, the economy and immigration were the two issues most often listed as most important, and those voters favored Trump.
Where Trump policies clash with Northwest voters
The responses of Oregon and Washington attorneys general to Trump’s election, even before he’s taken office, underscore the concerns Northwest voters voiced in poll responses about extreme views and authoritarian tendencies.
In a press conference two days after Election Day, newly elected Washington Attorney General Nick Brown pledged to fight the policies he expects from the Trump administration. Brown’s predecessor, now-governor Bob Ferguson, filed nearly 100 lawsuits against Trump during his first term.
In December, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced a special cabinet to help fight federal overreach. He tapped prominent left-leaning groups on
access, transgender rights and environmental protections, which Rayfield called “the high-impact areas where we think Oregon has stuck its neck out.”
Here’s a look at how voters responded on some of those issues.
Abortion access
Oregon and Washington voters hew toward more rights for abortion access compared to the rest of the country. Voters were asked their views broadly on which cases abortion should be legal or illegal, and more people in Oregon favored legality in most or all cases.
Compared to the rest of the country, a higher percentage of Northwest voters also opposed banning abortions after 15 weeks. In Washington, abortions are legal up to the point of fetal viability, as determined by a doctor (usually around 24-25 weeks), and are allowed after that to protect the life or health of the pregnant individual. In Oregon, abortions are legal at any point in a pregnancy, though rarely occur in the final trimester.
Climate change
People polled in Oregon and Washington were slightly more likely than the rest of the country to voice concerns about climate change in their own communities.
The gap gets bigger when voters were asked if the United States should expand production of fossil fuels like oil and gas, or instead focus on alternative energy sources like wind and solar.
This is an area where Trump policies are likely to clash with state rules. Both Oregon and Washington have goals to cut their carbon emissions, which will require more use of wind and solar energy. Trump, meanwhile, has promised to end new wind farms.
Immigration
During Trump’s first term, Oregon and Washington positioned themselves between him and his attempts to crack down on immigration.
As he enters a second term, Oregon and Washington voters feel staunchly different than the rest of the country about how the government should treat immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
That’s a major gap in how many people favor a legal path to citizenship, and not necessarily in line with a president who campaigned on mass deportations. And yet, the same polling shows a significant share of Northwest voters thought Trump was the more capable of the two candidates in handling the border and immigration.
Of note, in Washington, about 14% of the people who answered Donald Trump to that question actually voted for Kamala Harris.
That suggests a significant number of people who voted against Trump for another reason, but favor his approach to immigration.
PNW voters' hopes for a second Trump term
Oregon and Washington Democrats have positioned themselves opposite Trump on immigration.
But they’ve opened the door to working with the second-term president.
Many of Oregon’s leaders had a muted response to the election compared to other Democrat-majority states. Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement after the election that “I seek to work with the incoming administration.”
And Brown, Washington’s incoming attorney general, told the Seattle Times that despite his vows to resist many of Trump’s efforts, he sees potential for common ground on issues like consumer protection.
On consumer issues, like inflation, many voters favored Trump.
This trend holds true in voter responses on crime and the economy overall. The more concern people had about them, the more likely they were to opt for Trump.
In Oregon, a longtime blue state where Trump lost the overall vote decisively, more of the surveyed voters said they trusted him on the economy. They favored him by a significant margin more than in neighboring Washington.
One of Trump’s key economic policies, however, involves sizeable tariffs on products entering the country. That is a less popular idea in Oregon and Washington, two states whose economies depend on trade.
Voters surveyed in both Oregon and Washington were cooler on the idea of tariffs than voters in the rest of the country.