Republican candidate and Oregon Secretary of State Earl W. Snell defeated state senator Lew Wallace by a more than 3–1 margin, which remains the largest margin of victory for any candidate for Oregon governor.

Despite the fact that the Oregon legislature was controlled by his own party, Sprague's progressive stance on numerous issues had caused conflict with the legislature, and he had vetoed special interest legislation put forward by members of his own party.

[1] An attempted recall of Sprague had been unsuccessful,[1] but Snell used the issue, along with accusations that Sprague's efforts to efficiently organize the state for World War II had been inadequate,[2] to achieve a comfortable victory in the primary.

[3] In the Democratic primary, state senator Lew Wallace defeated former Oregon House speaker Howard LaTourette to win his party's nomination.

[4] In the general election, Snell crushed Wallace by the largest margin of victory ever in an Oregon governor's race, winning at least 70 percent of the vote in every county.