Politics of Oregon

Like many other U.S. states, the politics of Oregon is centered mostly around regional concerns.^{[citation needed]} Oregon leans Democratic as a state, with both U.S Senators from the Democratic party, as well as four out of Oregon's five U.S. Representatives.^[1] The state has voted Democratic, by relatively small margins, since 1988 in Presidential elections.^[2]

The state is broken up into two main geographically separate political areas: the Portland metropolitan area and Eugene, liberal centers of the state, and the rest of the state, whose voters are moving from conservative to libertarian vs democratic. While roughly three fifths (~57%) of the population of Oregon (Total population 3.8 Million plus) lives in the Portland area,^[3] the state has a rural population with generally conservative views on gay marriage and state taxes. On most other issues however, the state leans considerably left, including public health care,^[4] medical marijuana,^[5] euthanasia^[6] and environmental protections.

History

For the first half of the 20th century, Oregon was the most consistently Republican west coast state.^[7] In 1954, the upset of incumbent Republican Senator Guy Cordon by Democrat Richard L. Neuberger, along with Democratic wins in the U.S. House and statewide races and pickups of fourteen and two seats in the state House and Senate, respectively, signaled a strong shift towards the Democratic Party.^[7]

The last Republican Governor of Oregon was Victor G. Atiyeh who served from 1979-1987^[8][9]

The most prolific Governor in Oregon history is John Kitzhaber who had served two consecutive terms as governor before winning a third from Republican debutant and former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley^[10][11][12] In 1994, Oregon became the first U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

Key issues

Key issues in Oregon include:^{[citation needed]}

• Employment
• Environmental protection
• Native American relations (particularly in respect to gambling and casinos)
• Public health care
• Public transportation
• School funding
• Taxes
• Land use

Population's political ideology

Similar to the West Coast states of California and Washington, Oregon has a high percentage of people who identify as liberals. A 2010 Gallup poll that surveyed the political ideology of residents in every state found that people in Oregon identified as:^[14]

• 40.3% moderate
• 33.4% conservative (the 10th least conservative state)
• 26.3% liberal (the 4th most liberal state)

Another study on the state's resident's political ideology noted that the state's conservatives were the most conservative of any state (more so than Utah or Tennessee) and that the state's liberals were more liberal than any state (more so than Vermont or D.C.).^[15]

Political parties

As of August 1, 2012, there were 2,095,721 registered voters in Oregon and their political party affiliations were:^[16]

• 39.5% Democratic Party
• 31.0% Republican Party
• 22.4% "Non-affiliated" with any party
• 4.4% Independent Party
• 0.7% Libertarian Party
• 0.5% Pacific Green Party
• 1.5% with other political parties

See also

• Political party strength in Oregon

References

External links

• Politics of Oregon on the Open Directory Project

v t e  State of Oregon Salem (capital) Topics History Geography Climate People Governors Government Delegations Constitution Congress Ballot measures Elections Parks Fair Symbols Oregon Trail Beaches Lakes Rivers Misc. Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Gambling Politics Regions The Cascades Central Oregon Columbia Gorge Columbia Plateau Columbia River Eastern Oregon Harney Basin High Desert Inland Empire Mount Hood Corridor Oregon Coast Palouse Portland Metro Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Treasure Valley Tualatin Valley Western Oregon Willamette Valley Metros Bend-Redmond Coos Bay-North Bend Eugene-Springfield Medford-Ashland Portland Salem-Keizer Cities Albany Astoria Baker City Beaverton Brookings Coos Bay Corvallis Florence Grants Pass Gresham Hillsboro Hood River Independence Klamath Falls La Grande Lake Oswego Lakeview Madras McMinnville Milwaukie Monmouth Newberg Newport Ontario Oregon City Pendleton Prineville Roseburg Sandy The Dalles Tigard Tillamook Tualatin Umatilla West Linn Wilsonville Woodburn Counties Baker Benton Clackamas Clatsop Columbia Coos Crook Curry Deschutes Douglas Gilliam Grant Harney Hood River Jackson Jefferson Josephine Klamath Lake Lane Lincoln Linn Malheur Marion Morrow Multnomah Polk Sherman Tillamook Umatilla Union Wallowa Wasco Washington Wheeler Yamhill