Democratic Party of Oregon
The Democratic Party of Oregon is the Oregon affiliate of the Democratic Party.[2] The State Central Committee, made up of two delegates elected from each of Oregon's 36 counties and one additional delegate for every 15,000 registered Democrats, is the main authoritative body of the party.[3] The party has 17 special group caucuses which also each have representation on the State Central Committee.
Democratic Party of Oregon
After Oregon was admitted as a state in 1859, Oregon elected twice as many Democrats as Republicans between 1859 and 1879 in statewide elections.[4] It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but two of Oregon's six U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, both houses of the state legislature, and the governorship.
Current membership[edit]
As of August 2021, there were 1,026,458 registered Democrats in Oregon, compared to 730,113 registered Republicans, and 982,540 registered Non-Affiliated voters.
Recent elections[edit]
2006 elections[edit]
Going into the 2006 elections, Democrats occupied all four of the state's partisan executive offices and held a majority in the Oregon State Senate, but were in the minority in the Oregon House of Representatives. Of the statewide office-holders, only Governor Ted Kulongoski was up for re-election. Not only was he successful in that bid, but Democrats were elected to a slim majority in the House. All four of Oregon's Democratic United States House representatives were re-elected.
2008 elections[edit]
In the 2008 elections, Democrats gained a three-fifths majority in the state house and maintained the same majority in the senate despite losing a seat to the Republicans. This majority in both chambers of the Oregon Legislative Assembly is needed to pass bills that raise revenue, as required by Article IV §25 of the state constitution. Democrats maintained control of all state partisan executive offices. They held all four of Oregon's five federal congressional seats, including a retiring Democrat's seat, and unseated Oregon's Republican senator, the only one from the West Coast and the only Republican occupying an office representing the whole of Oregon.
2010 elections[edit]
In 2010 the Democrats kept the Governorship in a close election decided by the slimmest of margins. Former 2-term governor John Kitzhaber defeated Republican Chris Dudley by a mere 14,910 votes. US Senator Ron Wyden kept his senate seat, handily beating Jim Huffman 57% to 39%. The Democratic Party of Oregon also kept all four of their previously held congressional seats in the U.S House of Representatives[14]