PORTLAND, Ore. -- John Kroger, a law professor who has never held public office, will almost certainly be Oregon's next Attorney General after handily winning the Democratic nomination Tuesday.

Kroger, who teaches at Lewis & Clark's law school in Portland, won a resounding victory over state Rep. Greg Macpherson, a Democrat from Lake Oswego.

With half of the vote counted, Kroger won with more than 55 percent of the vote to about 44 percent for Macpherson in a race that was dominated by big spending by unions for Kroger and negative advertising by MacPherson.

"Greg Macpherson was a formidable opponent," Kroger said, "but it shows the power of ideas in politics."

No Republicans entered the primary race for attorney general, virtually assuring Kroger will win the general election in November.

Democrats also selected former Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown of Portland to be their Secretary of State candidate. She'll face off with Republican Rick Dancer, a former Eugene TV news anchor, in the fall.

With half the votes tallied, Brown was pulling in nearly 52 percent of the vote. Her closest competitor, state Sen. Rick Metsger of Welches, was getting 28 percent, and state Sen. Vicki Walker of Eugene was trailing with just over 17 percent.

Brown said she'd keep talking about key themes, including revamping the state's initiative system, registering more young voters and putting more focus on auditing the performance of state agencies.

"I just beat one newscaster named Rick, and now I am going to beat another one," she said, referring to Metsger, who used to be a sportscaster. "These guys are good with a microphone, but I can tackle them."

Voters also overwhelmingly approved a pair of measures to expand the role of crime victims in trials and sentencing.

Measures 51 and 52 make essentially the same changes to two different sections of the Oregon Constitution, guaranteeing the right to be present at key stages in a case and to be heard at sentencing. It also grants the right of appeal for victimswho claim their rights are denied.