2020 in Oregon

The year 2020 in Oregon involved several major events.

Politics and government

Incumbents

• Governor: Kate Brown (D)
• Secretary of State: Bev Clarno (R)

Elections

• 2020 United States presidential election in Oregon
• 2020 Oregon House of Representatives election

Events

Ongoing

• 2020 Oregon wildfires
• COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon
• George Floyd protests in Oregon

February

• February 25 – Several Republican members of the Oregon State Senate walk out to break quorum during a vote on an environmental bill.^[1]
• February 28 – COVID-19 pandemic: The state confirms its first case of COVID-19.^[2]
• February 29– Bricks Cascade 2020, a Lego fan convention, is held in Portland.^[3]

March

• March 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown declares a state of emergency.^[4]
• March 11
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The University of Oregon and Portland State University announce that all classes will be online-only for the rest of the semester.^[5]
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The Oregon Health Authority announces the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Deschutes County, and the first local case in Umatilla County.^[5][1]
• March 14 – COVID-19 pandemic: A man dies from COVID-19 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland, becoming the first person in the state known to have died from the virus.^[6]
• March 23 – COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown issues a stay-at-home order.^[7]

April

• April 13 – COVID-19 pandemic: Oregon joins Washington and California in creating the Western States Pact, an agreement to ease back each state's COVID-19 restrictions.^[8]
• April 29
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The state reports its 100th death from COVID-19.^[9]
  • A man is struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Salem.^[10]

May

• May 5 – COVID-19 pandemic: Cycle Oregon cancels all events for the year.^[11]
• May 7 – COVID-19 pandemic: Governor Kate Brown announces a ban on large gatherings, expected to last until at least September.^[12] The Oregon State Fair is canceled almost immediately.^[13]
• May 13 – Organizers announce that the 2020 Hood to Coast is cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.^[14]
• May 19 – Oregon marks the end of primary voting for the Democratic and Republican parties.^[15]
• May 20 – A kitten with two faces is born at a farm in Albany.^[16]
• May 28 – Protesters gather at the Multnomah County Justice Center, marking the first George Floyd protest in Oregon.^[17]

June

• June 1
  • George Floyd protests: Thousands of people march across Portland's Burnside Bridge.^[18]
  • George Floyd protests: Portland mayor Ted Wheeler announces a curfew.^[19]
• June 2 – George Floyd protests: On the 6th consecutive day of protests in Portland, additional demonstrations are held in various other cities in Oregon, including Albany, Bend, Brookings, Eugene, Forest Grove, Grant's Pass, McMinnville, and Tualatin.^[17][20]
• June 5 – George Floyd protests: U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez issues a temporary restraining order that restricts the Portland Police Bureau's use of tear gas so that it should only be used during riots, although the order defines a "riot" as involving as few as five people.^[21]
• June 8
  • George Floyd protests: Protesters shut down I-84 in Portland.^[17]
  • Amid daily protests in Portland, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch steps down, and is succeeded by Chuck Lovell.^[17]
• June 13 – A tornado touches down in Damascus, Oregon.^[22]
• June 14 – George Floyd protests: Protesters topple a statue of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson High School in Portland.^[23]
• June 18
  • George Floyd protests: On the eve of Juneteenth, protesters topple a statue of George Washington in Northeast Portland.^[24]
  • Local resident Nick Lloyd paints the Black Lives Matter street mural on North Edison Street in Portland.^[25]
• June 26 – George Floyd protests: Protesters and the city agree to expand the restraining order on tear gas so that it also applies to rubber bullets and pepper spray.^[26]

July

• July 11 – George Floyd protests: Federal agents shoot a protester in the head with a projectile, causing skull fractures and facial injuries requiring facial reconstruction surgery.^[27]
• July 18–19 – Portland's Black Lives Matter street mural is vandalized.^[28]
• July 26 – Unidentified law enforcement hits journalist Trip Jennings directly in the eye with a pepper ball.^[29]
• July 26–27 – A heat wave brings temperatures above 100 degrees in Portland.^[22]

August

• August 20
  • Some Wasco County residents are ordered to evacuate because of the White River Fire.^[30]
  • The Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCF) announces that they will end their contract with ICE, leaving the state without any facilities to hold people detained by federal immigration officials.^[31]
• August 25 – A patient scales the wall of the Oregon State Hospital and briefly escapes, running for half of a mile before hospital staff catch up with her.^[32]

September

• September 9 – Two people are killed by wildfires southeast of Salem; these are the first deaths of the year that are confirmed to have been caused by wildfires.^[33]
• September 14 – IQAir.com lists Portland as having the worst air quality in the world, due to ongoing wildfires across the entire West Coast.^[34]

November

• November 3 – Oregon holds elections for president, state representatives, ballot measures, and other issues.^[35]

December

• December 4 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Oregon Health Authority announces the state's 1,000th death from COVID-19.^[36]

• December 21 – A group of protesters breach the Oregon State Capitol, aided by Representative Mike Nearman, during a closed emergency session. The protesters engage in violent confrontations with police and are forced out of the building.^[37]

Deaths

• January 2 – Nick Fish (born 1958), politician and lawyer who served on the Portland City Council^[38]
• March 16 – Jim Bartko (born 1965), University of Oregon athletics administrator^[39]
• March 31 – James A. Redden (born 1929), politician and judge^[40]
• April 4 – Arlene Schnitzer (born 1929), arts patron and philanthropist^[41]
• April 6 – Joan Dukes (born 1946 or 1947), politician and member of the Oregon State Senate^[42]
• April 19 – Duane Ackerson (born 1942), writer^[43]
• May 15 – Mitch Greenlick (born 1935), member of the Oregon House of Representatives^[44]
• June 10 – Harry Glickman (born 1924), founder of the Portland Trail Blazers^[45]
• June 13 – Jim Grelle (born 1936), middle-distance runner^[46]
• June 17 – Vic Gilliam (born 1953), politician and actor^[47]
• July 21 – Dean Ing (born 1931), writer and academic^[48]
• August 11 – Russell Kirsch (born 1929), inventor of the first digital scanner^[49]
• August 29 – Clifford Robinson (born 1966), basketball player with the Portland Trail Blazers^[50]
• August 31 – Hans. A. Linde (born 1924), legal scholar and justice of the Oregon Supreme Court^[51]
• September 8 – Glenn Anthony May (born 1945), historian^[52]
• September 21 – Bob Smith (born 1931), politician and rancher^[53]
• October 6 – Jim Weaver (born 1927), businessman and politician^[54]
• December 25 – Barry Lopez (born 1945), author^[55]

See also

• 2020 in the United States
• 2020 in Washington (state)

References

1. ^ Mena, Kelly (2020-02-25). "Oregon Republicans walk out again over environmental bill". CNN. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
2. ^ "Oregon's 1st COVID-19 patient out of hospital after 2 months". AP News. 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
3. ^ Ogle, Wesleigh (2020-02-28). "Things 2 Do: Feb. 28 - March 1, 2020". KATU. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
4. ^ "Oregon COVID-19 Response". www.oregon.gov. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
5. ^ "2020 timeline: Big stories from Oregon, the U.S. and beyond". Oregon Capital Insider. 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
6. ^ Pitawanich, Christine (2020-04-16). "Remembering Lynn Bryan, the first confirmed COVID-19 death in Oregon". KGW. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
7. ^ Vanderhart, Dirk (2020-03-23). "Gov. Kate Brown Issues Order Directing Oregonians To 'Stay Home'". OPB. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
8. ^ "California, Oregon and Washington to work together on plan to lift coronavirus restrictions". Los Angeles Times. 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
9. ^ "Oregon COVID-19 Daily Update" (PDF). oregon.gov. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
10. ^ "Man killed by Amtrak train in Salem". The Oregonian. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
11. ^ Hale, Jamie (2020-05-05). "Cycle Oregon cancels all 2020 events due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
12. ^ Hale, Jamie (2020-05-07). "Large gatherings banned in Oregon at least through September". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
13. ^ Hale, Jamie (2020-05-08). "Oregon State Fair canceled for 2020, following ban on large gatherings". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
14. ^ Hale, Jamie (2020-05-13). "Hood to Coast Relay cancels 2020 race amid coronavirus pandemic". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
15. ^ "Results for the Oregon primary election May 19, 2020". KGW. 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
16. ^ Tariq, Nia (2020-05-24). "Oregon kitten born with two faces, named ‘Biscuits and Gravy’". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
17. ^ Graves, Mark (2020-09-06). "100 days of Black Lives Matter protests in Portland: Timeline and photos trace the arc of events". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
18. ^ Killen, Dave & Nakamura, Beth. "Protests continue in the streets of Portland for a fifth night in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25.". oregonlive. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
19. ^ "Portland Imposes Curfew After Violence Upends Friday Protests". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
20. ^ Currier, Carsyn (2020-06-02). "Protest in downtown Grants Pass continues into the evening". KTVL. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
21. ^ "50 days of protest in Portland. A violent police response. This is how we got here.". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
22. ^ "Portland 2020 Weather ‘Year In Review’". www.brucesussman.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
23. ^ "Thomas Jefferson Statue Pulled Down At Portland's Jefferson High". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
24. ^ "George Washington Statue Toppled In Portland". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
25. ^ Hardgrave, Alex (2020-06-27). "Black Lives Matter mural splashes its message across N. Portland street". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
26. ^ "50 days of protest in Portland. A violent police response. This is how we got here.". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
27. ^ "Federal Officers Shoot Portland Protester In Head With 'Less Lethal' Munitions". opb. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
28. ^ "Black Lives Matter mural vandalized in North Portland". KATU. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
29. ^ Lee, Alicia (2020-07-30). "A photojournalist who was shot in the eye says it’s not just violent rioters being targeted in Portland". CNN. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
30. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (2020-08-28). "Evacuations ordered for residents near Wasco County’s White River fire". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
31. ^ Wilson, Conrad (2020-08-21). "NORCOR, last jail in Oregon to hold immigration detainees, to end ICE contract". OPB. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
32. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (2020-08-27). "Patient climbs wall of Oregon State Hospital, runs half a mile before being apprehended". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
33. ^ "Oregon wildfire deaths: Lives lost in historic 2020 fires". The Oregonian. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
34. ^ Peñaloza, Marisa (2020-09-14). "'It's A Bit Surreal': Oregon's Air Quality Suffers As Fires Complicate COVID-19 Fight". NPR. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
35. ^ "Oregon Presidential Election Results". www.registerguard.com. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
36. ^ "Oregon reports 2,176 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 30 new deaths". www.oregon.gov. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
37. ^ "Lawmakers remove state legislator over Oregon Capitol breach". NBC News. 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
38. ^ "Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish dead from stomach cancer". KATU. 2020-01-02. Archived 2020-01-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
39. ^ Canzano, John (2020-03-17). "Longtime University of Oregon athletic administrator Jim Bartko dies at 54". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
40. ^ Redden, James A. III (2020-04-01). "James A. Redden, longtime Oregon politician and judge, passes away at 91". Portland Tribune. Archived 2020-04-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
41. ^ "Celebrating the Late Arlene Schnitzer". sites.up.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
42. ^ "Dukes was longtime state senator". The Astorian. 2020-04-09. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
43. ^ "Oregon Poetic Voices- Duane Ackerson". oregonpoeticvoices.org. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
44. ^ Powell, Meerah (2020-05-16). "Oregon Rep. Mitch Greenlick Has Died". OPB. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
45. ^ "Blazers founder Harry Glickman dies at 96". KOIN.com. 2020-06-11. Archived 2020-12-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
46. ^ Goe, Ken (2020-06-15). "University of Oregon running great, 1960 Olympian Jim Grelle dies Saturday at 83". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
47. ^ "Former Oregon Rep. Vic Gilliam dies". KATU. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
48. ^ "Obituary for Doctor Dean C. Ing". www.soobituaries.com. Archived 2021-07-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
49. ^ "Computer scientist, pixel inventor Russell Kirsch dead at 91". PBS News. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
50. ^ "Blazers, UConn star Clifford Robinson dies at 53". ESPN.com. 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
51. ^ Acker, Lizzy (2020-09-01). "Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Hans A. Linde dies at 96". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
52. ^ "Glenn May Obituary (1945 - 2020) - Eugene, OR - Eugene Register-Guard". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
53. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (2020-09-22). "Former Oregon Congressman Bob Smith dies at 89". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
54. ^ Brown, Jordyn. "Jim Weaver, former Oregon congressman known for his environmental work, dies at 93". The Register-Guard. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
55. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (2020-12-27). "Barry Lopez, Lyrical Writer Who Was Likened to Thoreau, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-23.

External links

• 2020 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report, from the Oregon Wine Board