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 Democratic Party of Oregon is the Oregon affiliate of the Democratic Party. 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. The party has 17 special group caucuses which also each have representation on the State Central Committee.
Floyd Prozanski is an American Democratic politician who is a current member of the Oregon State Senate, representing the 4th District, since 2004. He previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives, from 1995 through 2000 and again for the 2003 session. He resigned from the House in December 2003 to accept appointment to the Senate seat that had been vacated by Tony Corcoran. He won election to the seat in November 2004.
Jeff Kruse is a former Republican member of the Oregon Senate, representing the 1st District from 1996 until his resignation for sexual harassment in 2018.
Richard Devlin is an American politician who served in the Oregon State Senate from 2003 to 2018, representing the 19th Senate district.
Sara Gelser Blouin is an American politician from Oregon. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Brian James Boquist is an independent, formerly Republican, politician from Oregon. He currently serves in the Oregon Senate representing District 12. He was in the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 23 in the mid-Willamette Valley, from 2005 to 2009.
Michael E. Dembrow is an American Democratic politician from the US state of Oregon, currently representing District 23 in the Oregon Senate. Before his appointment to the Oregon Senate, Dembrow served in the Oregon House of Representatives serving District 45. Dembrow, formerly an English instructor at Portland Community College, served on Governor Ted Kulongoski's State Board of Higher Education. The Oregon League of Conservation Voters and Willamette Week endorsed Dembrow during the 2008 legislative election.
Tim Knopp is an American Republican politician from Oregon. He is a member of the Oregon State Senate and has been the senate minority leader since 2021. He previously served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
William S. Hansell is an American politician, farmer, and minister from Oregon. He served over four decades in local and state government positions including eight terms as an Umatilla County commissioner and three four-terms in the Oregon State Senate, representing a large rural district in eastern Oregon. As a young man, he spent twelve years as an evangelical Christian missionary in California and Australia.
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.
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.
Kayse Jama is an American politician currently serving as a Democratic member of the Oregon State Senate, representing Oregon's 24th Senate district, which includes parts of Clackamas and Multnomah Counties. Jama was appointed by the Clackamas and Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to replace Shemia Fagan, who was elected Oregon Secretary of State in 2021.
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.
Justin Hwang is an American restaurateur and politician from Oregon serving as the chair of the Oregon Republican Party since 2022. He is the first Asian American and Korean American to serve in the position. He previously served briefly as the vice chair from May to July of the same year. Hwang previously made unsuccessful bids for election to the Oregon House of Representatives and Oregon State Senate in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
The 82nd Oregon Legislative Assembly is the current session of the Oregon Legislature. It began January 9, 2023.
The 2024 Oregon Senate election will be held in the U.S. state of Oregon on November 5, 2024, to elect 15 of the 30 members of the State Senate of the 82nd Oregon Legislature. The election will coincide with the election of the other house of the Legislative Assembly, the Oregon House of Representatives, and other elections.
