2016 Oregon Democratic presidential primary

The 2016 Oregon Democratic presidential primary was held on May 17 in the U.S. state of Oregon as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

On the same day, the Democratic Party held their Kentucky primary, while the Republican Party held their own Oregon primary on that day.

Opinion polling

Poll source	Date	1st	2nd	Other
Official Primary Results	May 17, 2016	Bernie Sanders 56.2%	Hillary Clinton 42.1%	Misc. 1.7%
DHM Research^[2] Margin of error: ± 5.6% Sample size: 901	May 6–9, 2016	Hillary Clinton 48%	Bernie Sanders 33%	Others / Undecided 19%
KATU-TV/SurveyUSA^[3] Margin of error: ± 4.0% Sample size: 630	March 28-April 1, 2016	Hillary Clinton 37%	Bernie Sanders 36%	Others / Undecided 27%
DHM Research^[4] Margin of error: ± 7% Sample size: 206	July 22–27, 2015	Hillary Clinton 44%	Bernie Sanders 39%	Others / Undecided 17%

Results

Oregon Democratic primary, May 17, 2016
Candidate	Popular vote		Estimated delegates
Candidate	Count	Percentage	Pledged	Unpledged	Total
Bernie Sanders	360,829	56.24%	36	3	39
Hillary Clinton	269,846	42.06%	25	7	32
Misc.	10,920	1.70%	0	0	0
(available)	—		0	3	3
Total	641,595	100%	61	13	74
Source: The Green Papers, Oregon Secretary of State - Official Election Results

Analysis

As Barack Obama had done against Hillary Clinton in the state eight years earlier, Sanders won a convincing double-digit victory in Oregon, as he tried to breathe new life into his campaign. Massive grassroots support across the state helped the progressive and populist candidate achieve a double-digit win in a state with a closed primary. Sanders swept all counties in the state but one. He won a large victory in populous Portland in Multnomah County, where the bulk of the vote came from. He also was buoyed by support from the capital city of Salem in Marion County. Sanders swept all of the other major cities as well, including Eugene, Bend, and Medford, and likewise performed strongly in most of the rural and remote counties of the state, including those of Central Oregon and in the Oregon high desert bordering Idaho from the west. Sanders performed well in areas that were diverse in ethnicity as well as those which were less diverse. In fact, some of his largest margins of victory came from areas with a greater ethnic diversity in the state, such as Portland or Hillsboro, Oregon.