The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Salem. The party was established in the Oregon Territory in February 1857 as the "Free State Republican Party of Oregon" and held its first state convention on April 1, 1859, after Oregon achieved statehood.
The Republican Party was the dominant political organization in the state of Oregon from the time of the American Civil War through the 1960s, before moving to a position of approximate parity with the rival Democratic Party of Oregon for the next four decades. Since 2000, the Oregon Republican Party has become a minority party in state government, which has generally been controlled by Democrats.
The politics of the Oregon Territory were largely dominated by the generally states' rightsDemocratic Party with a vocal pro-slavery component. Only weak opposition came from the Whigs and their nativistKnow Nothing cousins.[6] A serious opposition first began to emerge in the aftermath of the bitter and costly Rogue River Wars of 1855 to 1856, centered around the growing anti-slavery sentiment nationally and the increasing threat that the Democratic Party would hasten the expansion of slavery in Oregon. Opposition to the Democrats gradually coalesced around the fledgling Republican Party that was intent upon slavery's limitation.[6][7]
A first convention of Republicans in Oregon was held in May 1856 at the Lindley schoolhouse in Jackson County, with the gathering called for the nomination of candidates to appear on the June 1856 territorial ballot.[6] The convention also adopted a resolution declaring that while Congress had no power over the existence of slavery in states in which it already existed, outside of such state jurisdictions federal power should be exerted to prevent its introduction.[8]
Throughout 1856, antislavery sentiment continued to grow in Oregon, with Republican clubs springing up around the state.[9] Republican county conventions were held in Clackamas, Washington, Marion, Linn, and possibly one or two other locales around the state.[10] Representatives of these county gatherings were then assembled at a territorial organizing convention held in Albany on February 11, 1857, which adopted the official name "Free State Republican Party of Oregon" for the organization.[11] A platform for the new political party was announced, emphasizing the indissoluble nature of the United States, opposition of the expansion of slavery to free territory, prohibition of polygamy, construction of a Pacific railroad to link Oregon with California, government effort to improve the navigability of rivers and harbors, and admission of Oregon to the United States only as a free state.[11]
The year 1857 was marked by preparations for future Oregon statehood, including the holding of a constitutional convention, and the ruling Democratic Party found itself divided over the question of slavery, attempting to sidestep the issue by passing in state convention a resolution binding Democratic delegates to such a gathering to the position that the matter of slavery in Oregon be settled later by a vote of the people.[12]
The Republicans did not nominate a candidate for Representative to Congress in the June 1857 election, instead pooling their support for G.W. Lawson, a Free Soil Democrat running as an independent.[13] While pro-slavery Democrat Joseph Lane was ultimately sent as the Territorial delegate to Congress, voting further down the ticket showed a Republican advance, with Republicans joining with so-called "soft" (free state) Democrats[14] to elect about a third of the delegates to the constitutional convention and 10 of the 30 members to the Oregon Territorial Legislature.[15]
The constitutional convention held in the summer of 1857 ultimately steamrolled Republican sentiment and again sidestepped the slavery question by deciding to leave the slavery question to a vote of the people, while declaring that "no negro, Chinaman, or mulatto should have the right to vote."[16] The bill of rights adopted by the Democratic-dominated constitutional convention gave the future state legislature the right to exclude African-Americans from immigrating to the state altogether, thereby setting the stage for restrictive racial laws in spite of Oregon's free state status.[17]
Three propositions were ultimately put to territorial voters, with the Democratic-authored Oregon Constitution gaining approval by a vote of about 7,200 to 3,100, a measure allowing slavery falling to defeat by a majority of nearly 5,100 votes, and a proposal allowing "Free Negroes" to settle in Oregon overwhelmingly defeated by a vote of 8,640 to 1,081.[18] Oregon would not be a slave state but rather one closed to black immigration — a law remaining on the books (albeit not in actual effect) into the 20th century.[19]
19th century
Edward Dickinson Baker (1811–1861), the first Oregon Republican elected to the U.S. Senate, was an early casualty fighting for the Union in the American Civil War.
On April 1, 1859, just two weeks after Oregon was admitted to the Union, the Republican Party held a convention in Salem at which it nominated David Logan as the party's choice for the state's first fully fledged Congressional representative.[20] Logan would narrowly fall to defeat both in 1859 and again when nominated again for a full term in the election of 1860, but national political events would soon change the tide for the new political party.[20] The Democratic Party found itself divided with the coming of the American Civil War between pro- and anti-Union elements.[21] With the nation embroiled in war, pro-Union Democrats and Republicans put aside their differences at a fusion convention in April 1862, establishing themselves as the Union Party.[21] This joint political organization would continue in Oregon through four elections under the Union Party banner, terminating only in 1868.
As the united political organization for a preserved United States of America in contradistinction to defeatists and Confederate sympathizers, the Union Party and, after 1868, the rechristened Republican Party experienced dramatic political gains in Oregon, buoyed by the defection and disenfranchisement of the Democratic South. The party, as one historian noted, began to "grow like the plant that sprang up from the mustard seed."[20] An alliance of Republicans and pro-Union Democrats in the Oregon State Legislature came together in 1860 to elect Edward Dickinson Baker as the first Republican U.S. Senator from Oregon.[22] An era of Republican dominance in Oregon was begun.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Baker raised his own militia, in which he served as commanding officer. On October 21, 1861, with Congress out of session, Colonel Baker and his men met Confederate forces on a hill called Ball's Bluff just outside Washington, D.C. Shortly after the battle started Baker was killed along with nearly 1,000 others.[23]
Despite the untimely death of Oregon's first Senator, E.D. Baker would hardly be the last. Over the next 30 years a steady stream of Republicans were sent to the U.S. Senate by the Oregon legislature, including Benjamin F. Harding (1862), George H. Williams (1864), Henry W. Corbett (1866), John H. Mitchell (1872, reappointed 1885, re-elected 1887 and 1891), Joseph N. Dolph (1882, re-elected 1889), and George W. McBride (1895).[24]
By the 1890s, the ideology of the two major parties had begun to switch, with the Republican Party emerging as the party of sound money, industry and commerce, protective tariffs, and expansionist foreign policy. [citation needed]
20th century
Oregon Republican Charles L. McNary (1874–1944) sat in the halls of the U.S. Senate for 25 years during the first half of the 20th century.
The early 20th century saw a period of significant Republican leadership in Oregon. The Republican Party controlled the Governor's office from 1939 to 1957 with multiple Governors throughout other parts of the century as well.[25]
Governor and U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (1922–2011) was the face of the Oregon Republican Party for a generation.
In 1918, Charles McNary was appointed to serve as a United States Senator after the death of Harry Lane. Frederick Mulkey was elected to serve the remainder of the term, serving for approximately one month, when McNary was elected to a full term. He was re-elected 4 times, serving a total of 25 years. In the Senate, McNary served as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1926 to 1933, and then Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944.[26] McNary helped pass legislation that led to the construction of the Columbia River'sBonneville Dam, and supported much of the New Deal. McNary was also the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee in the 1940 election, as Wendell Willkie's running mate.
McNary was the longest serving Senator in Oregon's history until surpassed by fellow Republican Mark Hatfield, who served from 1967 to 1997. Hatfield served as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee twice, and was also Governor of Oregon before his time in the Senate, from 1959 to 1967.
Tom McCall (1913–1983) is considered one of Oregon's most influential Governors.
In 1967, Tom McCall was elected Governor of Oregon. McCall is considered one of Oregon's most influential Governors.[28] McCall was a staunch environmentalist and an advocate of sustainable development. He is notable for passing the Oregon Bottle Bill, America's first container-deposit legislation, as well as the Oregon Beach Bill which established public ownership of land along the Oregon Coast from the water up to sixteen vertical feet above the low tide mark.[29] McCall served until 1975.
Victor Atiyeh served as Oregon's last Republican Governor, from 1979 to 1987. Republicans maintained both US Senate seats until 1995, and kept one until 2009.
21st century
Gordon Smith was Oregon's last Republican US Senator, serving until 2008.
Gerald Ford, the 38th president (1974–1977)Oregon Republicans controlled the State House of Representatives from 1991 until 2006. The house was split in 2005, with both parties creating a power-sharing agreement with both parties choosing a Co-Speaker, and all committees and chairmanships split evenly between the parties. The Senate was controlled by the Republicans from 1995 until 2002. The next session was split, with a similar power-sharing agreement created in the Senate.
In 2008, US Senator Gordon H. Smith was defeated by Democrat Jeff Merkley. Smith is the most recent Republican to serve in the US Senate. Since 2000, the Republicans have only held one statewide office, the Secretary of State, which was held by Dennis Richardson from 2017 to 2019, and then Bev Clarno, who finished Richardson's term due to his death while in office.[30]
The Oregon Republican Party gained national attention in June 2019 when all 11 Republican state senators staged a "walkout" designed to prevent a vote on Oregon House Bill 2020. The walkout deepened the alignment of the party with right-wing militias, including Oregon 3 Percenters and Oath Keepers as well as pro-Trump social media.[31][32][4] State Senator Brian Boquist threatened, in response to the state government's efforts to return him to the state capitol in Salem, "send bachelors and come heavily armed."[33][34][35][36] According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, "rare walkouts are ones like that in Oregon, where lawmakers flee the state for several weeks or months. These large events use a lot of political capital and show voters that those lawmakers might be sore losers and unwilling to negotiate."[37] Oregon Republicans continued such "walkouts" in 2021 to protest coronavirus restrictions and disable normal political processes, as well as organized groups to harass state inspectors doing their lawful work.[38]
Efforts to overturn the 2020 election
Following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Oregon Republicans again received national attention. On 21 December 2020, an armed group had forcibly entered the Oregon Capitol, caused damage, and sprayed “some kind of chemical agent” at the officers guarding the capitol. Police identified the chemical agent as "bear spray." The capitol break-in was promoted by the far-right Patriot Prayer. In January 2021, evidence came to light that Representative Mike Nearman had opened doors to the Oregon Capitol "allowing violent demonstrators who were protesting immediately outside the door to illegally enter the building" and cause damage.[39][40][41][42][43] The militia-inflamed "chaos in Oregon over the past year [was] a prologue to the insurrection at the U.S Capitol," in one account.[44] At least three "men who participated to storm the Oregon Capitol on December 21st also appear to have been part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol" in January.[45][38] Also among the Oregonians arrested for the US Capitol attack was the vice chair of the Young Republicans of Oregon.[46][47][48]
"The Trump era seems only to have exacerbated the Oregon GOP’s embrace of its most extreme constituencies," writes the conservative National Review.[49]
On January 19, 2021, the Oregon Republican Party issued a resolution declaring that the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump was a "false flag" event meant to "discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans."[5][50][51] Others had previously claimed antifa had staged the attack, though the FBI stated there was no evidence of antifa involvement.[5][50][51]
The party resolution provoked substantial controversy. Oregon's House Republicans pointedly disavowed the party resolution, and State Senator Tim Knopp stated publicly that he did "not support the Oregon Republican Party’s resolution."[52][53][54][55]Knute Buehler, a former Oregon House member and recent Republican gubernatorial nominee, "filed to change his registration from Republican to independent."[56] State Senator Brian Boquist also left the party and joined the Independent Party of Oregon.[56]
More than 6,000 Republicans left the party in January 2021.[57] In early February, state voter registration indicates a total of 11,000 registered Republicans in Oregon have left the party since Election Day.[58][59]
The 2021-2023 leadership term saw significant officer turnover. Dallas Heard, an Oregon State Senator serving as the chairman of the party, resigned in 2022 after severe internal disagreements with party members.[60] Senator Heard was succeeded as Chair first by Josephine County Commissioner Herman Baertschiger Jr., then restaurateur Justin Hwang. Following resignations, National Committeewoman Chris Barreto was replaced by former ORP Vice Chair Tracy Honl, while Treasurer Dennis Linthicum, State Senator from Klamath Falls, was replaced by Sodavillecity manager Alex McHaddad. Dr. Angela Plowhead was elected Vice Chair in September 2022.
Platform
Logo used from 2009 to 2016
The party's formal platform, adopted in 2015, expresses opposition to abortion and assisted suicide; support for mandatory minimum sentencing for violent offenders, truth-in-sentencing laws, and the death penalty; lower taxes; deregulation and minimal government intervention in the economy; opposition to same-sex marriage; repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; opposition for "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants; an individual right to keep and bear arms; and voter ID laws.[61] The party's platform, amended in 2019, includes opposition to National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, advocacy of the arming of educational staff "to protect themselves and their students from violence" while opposing gun-free zones; asserting that "marriage is between one man and one woman" and that "there are only two sexes, male and female, based on a person’s biological sex at birth"; favoring that "all government business shall be conducted in English"; continuing repeal of Obamacare; asserting that "violent, radical, Islamic Jihadists and other groups have . . . declared war on America"; and "need for personal responsibility and self-reliance in the event of a disaster."[62]
At the beginning of the 2022 legislative short session, the house republican caucus announced that they would use the session to "fix failures from Democratic leadership by restoring education standards, holding state government accountable and enabling our law enforcement to do its job. We will push to remove roadblocks to health care access and preserve Oregon’s natural environment while protecting the way of life of communities relying on these resources. We will give Oregonians the freedom to recover financially from government-mandated shutdowns by fighting the state’s regulatory burdens and mandates."[63]
The caucus fought to terminate the state of emergency related to COVID-19, and amend the Oregon Constitution to limit the declaration of an emergency to 30 days.[64]
Past elections
Presidents
Republican nominees won 25 of Oregon's 32 Presidential popular votes from 1860 to 1984.[65] Since 1988 the Democratic presidential nominee has won 8 straight popular votes.[66]
Governance
The party is run by an elected state Leadership Team.[67]
Each of Oregon's 36 counties has semi-autonomous county leadership teams. They are elected by precinct committee members who in turn are elected by all Republicans in a specific precinct.
Both of Oregon's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2008. Gordon H. Smith was the last Republican to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate. Elected in 1996, Smith lost his second re-election attempt in 2008 to Jeff Merkley who has held the seat since.
The Oregon Republican Party holds two of the state's six U.S. House seats and neither of the two U.S. Senate seats.
Oregon has not had a Republican in statewide office since 2021 after the retirement of Secretary of StateBev Clarno and the election of Democrat Shemia Fagan to replace her.
↑ The name was a pejorative assigned to dissidents by the pro-slavery majority faction of the Democratic Party. See: Republican League Register, pg. 25.
↑ Bancroft, History of Oregon: Vol. 2, pg. 421. Only one of these was elected on a straight Republican ticket, however, that being John R. McBride of Yamhill County. See: Republican League Register, pg. 23.
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Senate, representing 30 districts across the state, each with a population of 141,242. The state Senate meets in the east wing of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith sought reelection to a third term. Smith was the only Republican Senator from the West Coast and the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon. He was opposed by Democrat Jeff Merkley, the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and David Brownlow of the Constitution Party of Oregon. Merkley won by a narrow margin, with Smith not conceding until two days after the election. Merkley became the first Democrat to win this seat since 1960, and since Smith was the only Republican holding statewide office in Oregon at the time, this was the first time since 1860 that no Republicans won or held statewide office in Oregon. Merkley's inauguration marked the first time since 1967 that Democrats held both of Oregon's United States Senate seats.
Katherine Brown is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997, three terms as the state senator from the 21st district of the Oregon Senate from 1997 to 2009, three terms as majority leader of the Oregon Senate from 2003 to 2009, and two terms as Oregon Secretary of State from 2009 to 2015. She assumed the governorship upon the resignation of John Kitzhaber in 2015. She was elected to serve out the remainder of his gubernatorial term in the special election in 2016 and was reelected to a full term in 2018.
The Independent Party of Oregon (IPO) is a centrist political party in the U.S. state of Oregon with more than 140,000 registrants since its inception in January 2007. The IPO is Oregon's third-largest political party and the first political party other than the Democratic Party and Republican Party to be recognized by the state of Oregon as a major political party.
Walter Kurt Schrader is an American politician and veterinarian who served as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 5th congressional district from 2009 to 2023. His district covered most of Oregon's central coast, plus Salem, and many of Portland's southern suburbs, and a sliver of Portland itself. A member of the Democratic Party, Schrader served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1997 to 2008.
Elizabeth Katharine "Betsy" Johnson is an American aviator, entrepreneur, and politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from the 1st and 31st House districts from 2001 to 2005, and in the Oregon Senate from the 16th district from 2005 to 2021, as a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to her tenure in the state legislature she served on the Port of St. Helens board and worked in the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Brian James Boquist is an American politician from Oregon. He currently serves in the Oregon Senate representing District 12. A member of the Republican Party, he briefly defected to the Independent Party from 2021 until 2023. He previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 23 in the mid-Willamette Valley, from 2005 to 2009.
Lona Kim Thatcher is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Oregon State Senate for the 11th district since 2023. She previously represented the 13th district from 2015 to 2023, and served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for the 25th district from 2005 to 2015. She is a resident of Keizer.
Tim Knopp is an American Republican politician from Oregon. He is a member of the Oregon State Senate and served as the senate minority leader from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Dallas Heard is an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the Oregon Senate from 2018 to 2023. Heard had previously served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from District 2 from 2015 until 2018.
Mark Allen Callahan is an American information technology consultant and perennial candidate. He was the Republican nominee in the 2016 United States Senate election in Oregon.
Jo Rae Perkins is an American perennial candidate who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for both the 2020 U.S. Senate election and 2022 U.S. Senate election in Oregon. Perkins lives in Albany, Oregon, and has received national attention for her belief in QAnon.
Janelle Sojourner Bynum is an American politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party and currently represents the 39th district, which covers northern Clackamas County, including most of Happy Valley and parts of Oregon City, Milwaukie and the surrounding area.
The 80th Oregon Legislative Assembly convened for its first of two regular sessions on January 22, 2019, and met for three special sessions, the last of which concluded on December 21, 2020.
The 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Oregon. Incumbent Kate Brown took office when fellow Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned on February 18, 2015. She won the subsequent 2016 special election a full term in 2018. Due to term limits, she was unable to run again in 2022.
A series of Oregon Republican State Senator walkouts began in May 2019 when Republican members of the Oregon State Senate refused to attend floor sessions of the Oregon Senate in an effort to stymie Democratic efforts to pass House Bill 3427. Proposed during the 80th Oregon Legislative Assembly, the bill would have provided $2 billion for K-12 schools through a new tax package. The senators eventually returned after reaching a deal with Oregon Senate Democrats and Oregon Governor Kate Brown, but elected to "vanish" the following month over another bill, House Bill 2020. House Bill 2020 is designed to institute a carbon tax in Oregon. Republican senators argue that it would unduly burden their constituents, while Democrats argue it is necessary to place Oregon at the forefront of the fight against climate change.
The 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly was the legislative session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly that convened on January 11, 2021 and adjourned June 26th. Its even-year short session of 35 days convened on February 1, 2022 and adjourned sine die on March 4, 2022.
Oregon Ballot Measure 113, the Exclusion from Re-election for Legislative Absenteeism Initiative, was approved by Oregon voters in the 2022 Oregon elections. Measure 113 amended the Constitution of Oregon to provided that members of the Oregon Legislature with ten unexcused absences from floor sessions are disqualified from serving in the legislature following their current term. It is codified as Article IV, Section 15 of the Oregon Constitution.
The 82nd Oregon Legislative Assembly is the current session of the Oregon Legislature. It began January 9, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
730,113 [3] 
