Each state has its own procedure for filling a vacancy left by a Congressperson, and as you can guess, the Oregon process is unique. When a U.S. Representative resigns, it is up to the Governor to call a special election to fill the vacancy. If the vacancy occurs 61 days before the general election (before September 7th, 2006 for the November 7, 2006 general election, for example), then the Governor must call a special election. If a vacancy occurs after 62 days before the general election (after September 6th, 2006 for the November 7, 2006 general election, for example), then the Governor may call a special election after the General election. Interestingly enough, the Governor has the choice of the type of election that is held. If the Governor calls a special election to be held before the 80th day after the vacancy occurs, only two candidates selected by the Republican and Democrat parties are filed with the Secretary of State. There is only a general election in this scenario. If the Governor calls a special election to be held after the 79th day after the vacancy occurs, then there is a special primary election held with the potential of many candidates from each party vying for votes and the top Republican and Democrat vote-getter facing off in the special general election. Once the date of the special election is set by the Governor, the Secretary of State is then responsible for determining what the date of the Primary (if necessary) and General election are and adopts these dates by temporary rule. There are no mandatory time limits outlined for the Governor to set the date of the General election. The impetus for a speedy election comes from the fact that during the vacancy, the citizens of the district go unrepresented in Congress. There are also no mandatory time limits outlined for the Secretary of State to set the primary and general election dates. The Secretary of State does have some legal constraints around how many days prior to an election they must send out absentee ballots, which may play a factor in the dates they select for the primary and general election.