About 1,000 rally and march in Salem as No Kings protest turns to early voting
About 1,000 people rallied near the Oregon State Capitol and marched through downtown Salem on Saturday, Oct. 17, as the fourth national No Kings day of protest against President Donald Trump shifted its focus to getting people to vote early in the Nov. 3 election.
Salem Police estimated that 1,000 people turned out for the rally and march, the Statesman Journal reported. That matched the turnout organizers had predicted earlier in the week, according to a Salem Reporter preview. Salem Reporter called it the city's fourth No Kings protest in a little over a year, and reported that Keizer held its own event the same day.
What happened in Salem
The rally was organized by Salem Region Indivisible at the corner of Center and Summer streets, across from the Capitol near the Sprague Fountain. The group's event page billed it as a nationwide push for early voting and election protection, with speakers from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a march with "VOTE!" signs around downtown and past the county clerk's ballot drop box.
According to the Statesman Journal's live coverage, the crowd grew from a few dozen people to several hundred before the speeches began. At its peak, the march stretched four city blocks along the Center Street sidewalk, from Summer Street NE to High Street NE. Five Salem Police officers on bicycles rode ahead of the marchers and three more followed behind, the newspaper reported.
Willamette News did not find any report of arrests or injuries in Salem in the coverage it reviewed.
Thom Gapen, a spokesperson for Salem Region Indivisible, told the Statesman Journal the turnout "did exceed my expectations because we didn't know how many people were going to be here." He said the goal was to be highly visible with one message: vote.
Speakers: vote early, skip the mail
Featured speakers included Salem Mayor-elect Vanessa Nordyke, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, and Maria Hinojos Pressey, the Democratic nominee for a seat on the Marion County Board of Commissioners, the Statesman Journal reported.
Several officials urged the crowd to use drop boxes rather than mailing ballots. "Don't even mail it. Turn it in, ASAP," Nordyke said, according to the newspaper. Salinas leaned on sports analogies, telling the crowd "We are in the fourth quarter" and urging people "to take your anguish, your anger and your anxiety and to put it into action," the Statesman Journal reported.
Salem's turnout was smaller than in March, when the Statesman Journal estimated that about 5,000 people attended the city's previous No Kings rally.
Across Oregon
Organizers planned more than 30 rallies across Oregon on Saturday, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported, with reporters at events in Happy Valley and Ontario. In Happy Valley, state Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, wore a cardboard ballot box costume, and in Ontario several dozen people marched from city hall to a park, the outlet reported.
In Portland, police said thousands of people took part in a rally at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and a march downtown that ended peacefully around 2:30 p.m., KXL reported. Police said no arrests were made and one report of someone using an irritant spray was under investigation.
Crowd estimates for Portland varied widely. The Oregonian/OregonLive put the peak crowd near 3,000, KGW described it as noticeably smaller than the March rally, and KPTV reported nearly 300 people. Secretary of State Tobias Read spoke at the Portland rally and told the crowd Oregon would vote "safely, accurately, fairly and by mail," according to The Oregonian.
What critics said
Nationally, the events were billed as nonpartisan, though they built on nearly two years of demonstrations by people opposed to Trump's presidency, the Associated Press reported.
The White House dismissed the effort. In a statement to NBC Chicago, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, "The fact that the 'No Kings' organizers are talking about voting in the upcoming election proves they should change their name." She added that voters face a choice between Trump and Republican policies and what she called Democrats' "radical socialist, open-border policies."
As of Sunday morning, Willamette News had not found a public statement about Saturday's Salem rally from the Oregon Republican Party or from Republican gubernatorial nominee Christine Drazan, who polls show in a close race with Gov. Tina Kotek, according to the Statesman Journal.
If you still have a ballot to return
Ballots went out to Oregon's 3.1 million voters on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the Capital Chronicle reported. Because of U.S. Postal Service changes that send mail through a central Portland facility before it is postmarked, election officials are urging voters to use official drop boxes. Anyone mailing a ballot should do so by Oct. 27, or ask for a manual postmark at a post office counter, the outlet reported.
Drop boxes are open until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. Salem-area drop sites and key dates are in our 2026 Salem-area voter guide. Marion County commissioners are also weighing the county clerk's request for two extra drop boxes.
Sources
Statesman Journal: Hundreds rally in Salem for anti-Trump No Kings protest, by Katie Livermore and Joshua Kornfeld (Oct. 17, 2026)
Statesman Journal: Our best photos of the anti-Trump No Kings protest in Salem (Oct. 17, 2026)
Statesman Journal via Yahoo News: Watch as thousands rally in Salem for anti-Trump No Kings protest, by Eder Campuzano (March 28, 2026)
Salem Reporter: PHOTOS: Salem, Keizer join No Kings events focused on promoting voting (Oct. 18, 2026)
Salem Reporter: No Kings to draw nearly 1,000 protesters to downtown Salem on Saturday, by Hailey Cook (Oct. 15, 2026)
Salem Region Indivisible: No Kings IV, Vote Early! event page
Oregon Capital Chronicle: Oregonians urge early voting at statewide 'No Kings' protests ahead of election, by Shaanth Nanguneri and Mia Maldonado (Oct. 17, 2026)
KXL: 'No Kings' demonstrators hold rally and march in Portland (Oct. 17, 2026)
The Oregonian/OregonLive: 'November is coming': Portland 'No Kings' protesters turn their focus to the ballot box (Oct. 17, 2026)
KGW: 'No Kings' rally in downtown Portland urges voters to show up for November midterms, by Jake Holter (Oct. 17, 2026)
KPTV: Nearly 300 people march in downtown Portland for 'No Kings' rally (Oct. 17, 2026)
Associated Press via PBS News: No Kings rallies across U.S. urge voters to cast ballots early ahead of midterms (Oct. 17, 2026)
NBC Chicago: 'No Kings' rallies aim to get out voters ahead of election (Oct. 17, 2026)
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