Oregon's 12th Senate district explained

District 12 of the Oregon State Senate comprises parts of Yamhill and Polk counties centered around Dallas, McMinnville, and Newberg. It is composed of Oregon House districts 23 and 24. It is currently represented by Republican Brian Boquist of Dallas.

Election results

District boundaries have changed over time. Therefore, senators before 2021 may not represent the same constituency as today. From 1993 until 2003, the district covered parts Clackamas County; from 2003 until 2013, it shifted to cover rural western Benton, Polk, and Yamhill counties plus a small panhandle in southern Marion County and a small part of Linn County to cover the small town of Jefferson; and from 2013 until 2023, it lost some rural land in western Polk and Yamhill counties while adding parts of southern Washington County stretching north to southern Hillsboro.

The current district was consolidated slightly from its previous iterations, losing all of its land in Benton, Marion, and Washington counties while regaining almost all of Polk and Yamhill counties stretching to their western borders.

The results are as follows:^[1]

Year	Candidate	Party	Percent	Opponent	Party	Percent
1982		Walt Brown		Democratic		63.1%		Larry Burright		Republican		36.8%
1986		Bill Kennemer		Republican		52.2%		Walt Brown		Democratic		47.8%
1990		Bill Kennemer		Republican		57.0%		Bob Johnson		Democratic		43.0%
1994		Bill Kennemer		Republican		54.3%		Dave McTeague		Democratic		45.7%
1998		Verne Duncan		Republican		57.9%		Monroe Mark Sweetland		Democratic		42.1%
2004		Gary George		Republican		58.7%		Hank Franzoni		Democratic		41.3%
2008		Brian Boquist		Republican		60.6%		Kevin C. Nortness		Democratic		39.1%
2012		Brian Boquist		Republican		60.0%		Annette Frank		Democratic		39.8%
2016		Brian Boquist		Republican		62.9%		Ross Swartzendruber		Democratic		36.9%
2020		Brian Boquist		Republican		58.3%		Bernadette Hansen		Democratic		41.6%

Notes and References

1. Web site: OR State Senate 12. Our Campaigns. August 7, 2017.