Political Parties & Candidates

The election confirmed that Oregon continues to be a Democratic-leaning state where key contests are highly competitive.

The choices voters made in Tuesday’s election will change how laws get made and administered next year in Oregon.

Jamie McLeod-Skinner ousted a seven-term incumbent—now comes the hard part.

The GOP is almost certain to eat into Democratic supermajorities this year. The question is by how much.

While nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson appears to be third in polling, her candidacy reflects a breakthrough in a state where the two major political parties have near total control over who appears on the November ballot, the editorial board writes. While Democrats are casting her as a spoiler candidate, they – and Republicans – should recognize that it's long past time to open up their primaries and give 41% of Oregon voters a greater say in who their top candidates are.

With just over three weeks until Election Day, the President is coming to Stumptown to stump for Democratic candidates.

Democrats have won every Oregon governor’s race since 1986. Betsy Johnson’s unexpectedly strong bid has threatened that reign.

The race pits incumbent Democrat Ron Wyden against GOP Jo Rae Perkins, Chris Henry with Oregon Progressive Party and Dan Pulju with Pacific Green Party.

The race pits incumbent Democrat Ron Wyden against GOP Jo Rae Perkins, Chris Henry with Oregon Progressive Party and Dan Pulju with Pacific Green Party.

Evidence that Independent Party of Oregon Director Sal Peralta is loyal to the agenda of Oregon Democrats and that his 'political party' is just a front for Democrats.

Third parties have long struggled to break through a political system that is explicitly designed to benefit the Republican and Democratic Parties. However, the Forward Party is taking an unprecedented approach to tear down the duopoly’s barriers.

Betsy Johnson, the unaffiliated candidate for Oregon governor, spent two decades as a Democrat in the Legislature and even longer as a powerful presence in local politics.

Betsy Johnson, a pro-gun, woke-bashing former Democrat is waging a strong bid for governor.

Nonaffiliated voters in Oregon comprise the biggest voting bloc but that doesn't mean that they are nonpartisan.

If the two parties go off to the edges, there’ll be a ticket running up the center.

Betsy Johnson paid a Washington-based signature gathering firm more than $200,000 to collect signatures for her campaign.

At unpublicized meetings in May, June and July, members of the party’s steering committee nominated candidates for Congress, governor and the Legislature

Former State Sen. Betsy Johnson is running for governor and Aumsville Mayor Derek Clevenger is running for state representative without a party.

The number of voters who aren't affiliated with a political party continue to swell in Oregon. But when it comes to the May 17 primary, they are out of luck.

Nonaffiliated voters are now the largest voting bloc in Oregon, but they can't pick candidates in most primaries.

Although the U.S. political party affiliation average for 2021 was similar to prior years, the country shifted from a nine-point Democratic preference early in the year to a five-point Republican advantage near the end.

Despite Oregon's reputation as a state that values voter access, one third of its registered voters are barred from participating in the state's Democratic and Republican primaries, The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board writes. A proposal to copy Colorado's system, as suggested by former Secretary of State Phil Keisling, offers an elegant and effective way to enfranchise Oregon's one million nonaffiliated voters.

Heard is one of three current or former Republican state senators who swept into party leadership after a vote Saturday.

An unusually large number of voters have disavowed their Republican party identities over the past 2 months, particularly in Washington County, where the number of Republicans fell by nearly 1,900, or 2.3%