Oregon Public Broadcasting

In the end, the vote wasn't even close. Oregon voters gave their stamp of approval to a pair of tax measures on Tuesday's ballot.

Measures 66 and 67 each passed by roughly 54-to-46 percent. Democrats are jubilant, as Chris Lehman report.

Supporters of Measures 66 and 67 celebrate in Portland.

Political activist Steve Novick could hardly contain himself. As one of the most public supporters of the tax hikes, Novick rallied the crowd gathered at Portland's Wonder Ballroom by imitating a baseball announcer calling a game-winning homerun.

Steve Novick:  "Oregon voters hit a line-drive into the left field stands and they're going crazy. They're going crazy. Yee-ha!"

The election was a rare ballot box victory for tax increases in Oregon.

Voters have a long and consistent record of rejecting tax hikes, especially on income. But supporters repeatedly drove home the message that only the state's wealthiest taxpayers would be affected by Measure 66, and that most businesses would pay just $150 a year under Measure 67.

Vote Yes campaign director Kevin Looper says those basic facts became a cornerstone of his group's effort.

Kevin Looper:  "I've never been a part of a campaign where we had to spend more time just on the details of what was being asked."

Looper says in the end, even voters who will pay more under the measures came around to the yes side.

Kevin Looper:  "I know from our polling that we won households above $250,000 a year. That those folks are educated and pay attention and they know how much they were going to be asked, and they said you know what, it's worth it to live in Oregon to be able to keep our education system intact."

Last-minute voters use the drive-thru drop-box at the Multnomah County Elections Office in Portland.

Looper says the Vote Yes campaign tried to paint the tax hikes as protecting the middle class. But Pat McCormick, the spokesman for the group that opposed the hikes, said tax supporters tried to pit the middle class against businesses and upper income earners.

Pat McCormick: "They went after businesses in Oregon as though they were Wall Street bankers and credit card companies and called them such. They went after people they said were rich. And trying to generate that sort of class warfare distinction that said those folks aren't doing their fair share really didn't reflect the kind of Oregon standards we've seen in the past, and that's disappointing."

But the Vote No campaign failed to convince enough voters that the tax hikes were bad policy. Vanessa Rader cast her ballot late Tuesday in Portland. She says she voted yes on both measures.

Vanessa Rader:  "The No commercials I thought were like outright lies about who exactly they were going to tax. Their commercial in a little coffee shop making it seem like the little guy is going to get taxed all this money and go out of business. I thought it was just sort of hyperbolic about what is actually going to happen."

A little more than an hour later, supporters of the tax increases hailed the results with a rendition of Oregon's state song.

People singing:  "Hail to thee, land of progress, my Oregon."

But even as supporters were celebrating their victory, legislative leaders were quick to warn the results only mean the continuation of state services at current levels.

Those are already reduced after lawmakers made $2 billion worth of cuts last year. Democratic House Speaker Dave Hunt is already thinking about the next steps for a tax structure he says leaves state services under-funded.

Dave Hunt: "Our schools are not where they need to be. Our health care system is not where it needs to be. Our public safety services are not where they need to be. And the health of our business climate is not where it needs to be. In all those cases, though, this moves the ball forward tonight but we've got more work to do."

Hunt said lawmakers will consider ways to stabilize Oregon's tax system during a month long special session that starts next week. He didn't offer specifics, but one proposal being floated is to modify the state's kicker law, which refunds tax money when revenues exceed expectations.