Socialist Party of Oregon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Freedom Socialist Party (Oregon).

Socialist Party of Oregon




Party Chairman	Michael C. Marino
Senate Leader	None
House Leader	None

Founded	1992
Headquarters	Portland

Political ideology	Democratic socialism
Political position	{{{position}}}
International affiliation	none
Color(s)	Red and Black

Website	thesocialistparty.org

The Socialist Party of Oregon (SPO) is a minor political party in the U.S. state of Oregon affiliated with the Socialist Party U.S.A..^[1] As of November, 2006, the party was recognized by the Oregon State Elections Division as a "less than statewide" nominating party, having failed to retain certification outside of Oregon's Third Congressional District.^[2] Party organizers have announced a plan to expand ballot access in other areas of the state by circulating petitions to qualify for nominating privileges in individual state house districts.^[3]

1 History
2 Structure
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The Socialist Party of Oregon was founded in 1992 by at-large members of SPUSA (including Walt Brown, Don Masaoy, Trey Smith, and others) and is recognized as both an activist organization and an electoral vehicle. The Socialist Party of Oregon was a supporter early on of the Health Care for All-Oregon ballot measure, a participant in the successful unionizing effort at Powell's, a continuing presence in the peace movement, and Oregon's electoral arm for democratic socialist electoral politics.

The Party has gained electoral ballot status through acquisition of ballot lines previously held by others; the No Sales Tax Party was acquired in/about 1992 (changing its name to the Socialist Party thereafter) and the Representative Party was acquired in the same year (also changing its name). In 1995, the ballot line of the New Alliance Party was acquired, giving the Socialist Party of Oregon statewide minor party status. The Socialist Party has run candidates for partisan office regularly since that time.

In 1998, the elections were sabotaged from within, and the Party lost statewide ballot access. In subsequent elections, ballot status was steadily chipped away at. Prior to 1998, the officers of the Party had borrowed several thousand dollars from the Socialist Party USA; after borrowing the funds, sabotaging the electoral campaigns, officially ending ties with the SPUSA, and purging the Party of some of its more active members, the officers of that time (derogatorily known as the "Troika") left to join the Pacific Party.

Apparently in response to the 1998 disaster, the SPUSA decided it wished to terminate formal alliance with the political party in Oregon, but wished to retain a chapter in the state.

SPO co-founder Walt Brown ran for President in 2004.

The Party has few electoral successes:

Bill Smaldone, elected to Salem City Council, 1998
Michael C. Marino, elected to Northwest District Association, 1998-2004, 2006-present
Ballot measure to remove white supremacist language from Oregon Constitution (referred to as the "White Out Act"), 2002, carried by Oregon voters

[edit] Structure

The Socialist Party of Oregon (minor political party), currently occupying a small but densely-populated geographical area, has no "chapters" or other subdivisions. Despite its small size, it maintains a bicameral system in order to take advantage of asymmetric strategy.

The officers and members overlap with the SPUSA affiliate, which is unicameral and has Locals throughout the state, most of them in or near the Willamette Valley.

[edit] References

^ State and Local Organizations: Oregon (HTML). Socialist Party USA (Official website). New York, NY: Socialist Party USA (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
^ Political Parties in Oregon (PDF). Salem, Oregon: Elections Division, Oregon Secretary of State (November 29, 2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
^ Maximova, Alexandra (Autumn 2006). Losing Ballot Access – And Getting it Back! (PDF). Oregon Socialist. Portland, Oregon: Socialist Party of Oregon. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.