The Oregon Republican Party is the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

affiliate of the

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, headquartered in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

. The party was established in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

through the 1960s, before moving to a position of approximate parity with the rival

Democratic Party of Oregon 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 ...

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. Oregon Republican currently control just 1 out of 6 U.S. House seats, no statewide offices, and minorities in the state legislature. In recent years, the Oregon Republican Party has been the subject of significant controversy regarding the increasing influence of

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

organizations and militias within the party, especially during the

first presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump First inauguration of Donald Trump, was inaugurated as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president, and ended on January ...

. The party received national attention and widespread criticism for its efforts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, and its resolution claiming the

2021 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

was a false flag operation.

History

Antislavery origins

The politics of the

were largely dominated by the generally

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

Democratic Party with a vocal pro-slavery component. Only weak opposition came from the Whigs and their nativist

Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...

cousins.Hubert Howe Bancroft, ''History of Oregon: Volume 2: 1848-1883.'' San Francisco, CA: The History Company, 1888. A serious opposition first began to emerge in the aftermath of the bitter and costly

Rogue River Wars The Rogue River Wars were an armed conflict in 1855–1856 between the U.S. Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue Valley area of wha ...

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. 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. The convention also adopted a resolution declaring that while

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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. Throughout 1856, antislavery sentiment continued to grow in Oregon, with Republican clubs springing up around the state. Republican county conventions were held in Clackamas,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

, and possibly one or two other locales around the state. 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.Bancroft, ''History of Oregon: Vol. 2,'' pg. 418. 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 Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

, construction of a Pacific railroad to link Oregon with

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, government effort to improve the navigability of rivers and harbors, and admission of Oregon to the United States only as a free state. 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. 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. While ''pro-slavery'' Democrat

Joseph Lane Joseph Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881) was an American politician and soldier. He was a state legislator representing Evansville, Indiana, and then served in the Mexican–American War, becoming a general. President James K. Polk ap ...

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 to elect about a third of the delegates to the constitutional convention and 10 of the 30 members to the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Represent ...

. 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 ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

should have the right to vote." The bill of rights adopted by the Democratic-dominated constitutional convention gave the future state legislature the right to exclude

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

from immigrating to the state altogether, thereby setting the stage for restrictive racial laws in spite of Oregon's free state status. Three propositions were ultimately put to territorial voters, with the Democratic-authored

Oregon Constitution The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights.

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. 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.

19th century

On April 1, 1859, just two weeks after Oregon was admitted to the Union, the Republican Party held a convention in

at which it nominated David Logan as the party's choice for the state's first fully fledged Congressional representative.''Republican League Register,'' pg. 27. 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. The Democratic Party found itself divided with the coming of the

between pro- and anti-Union elements.''Republican League Register,'' pg. 28. 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. 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 A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

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 Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

seed." An alliance of Republicans and pro-Union Democrats in the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

came together in 1860 to elect

Edward Dickinson Baker Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and US army officer. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Oregon. ...

as the first Republican

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from Oregon. 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 The Battle of Ball's Bluff (also known as the Battle of Leesburg or Battle of Harrison's Island) was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major Gener ...

just outside Washington, D.C. Shortly after the battle started Baker was killed along with nearly 1,000 others. 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 Benjamin Franklin Harding (January 4, 1823June 16, 1899) was an American attorney and politician born in Pennsylvania. He held political offices in the Oregon Territory and later served as a United States senator from the state of Oregon. Early ...

(1862), George H. Williams (1864), Henry W. Corbett (1866),

John H. Mitchell John Hipple Mitchell (born John Mitchell Hipple; June 23, 1835December 8, 1905) was an American lawyer, politician. He served as a United States Republican Party, Republican United States Senate, United States Senator from Oregon on three occasi ...

(1872, reappointed 1885, re-elected 1887 and 1891),

Joseph N. Dolph Joseph Norton Dolph (October 19, 1835March 10, 1897) was an American politician and attorney in the state of Oregon. A native of the state of New York (state), New York, he immigrated to Oregon over the Oregon Trail and settled in Portland, Oreg ...

(1882, re-elected 1889), and

George W. McBride George Wycliffe McBride (March 13, 1854June 18, 1911) was an American politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Oregon. An Oregon native, he served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly as Speaker of the House and as Oregon Secretary of St ...

(1895). By the 1890s, the

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

of the two major parties had begun to switch, with the Republican Party emerging as the party of

sound money In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and r ...

, industry and commerce, protective

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s, and expansionist foreign policy.

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.In 1918, Charles McNary was appointed to serve as a United States Senator after the death of

Harry Lane Harry Lane (August 28, 1855 – May 23, 1917) was an American politician in the state of Oregon. A physician by training, Lane served as the head of the Oregon State Hospital, Oregon State Insane Asylum before being forced out by political enemie ...

. 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. McNary helped pass legislation that led to the construction of the Columbia River's

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Ore ...

, and supported much of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

. 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 Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Factions in the Republican Party (United States)#Moderates, moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he se ...

, who served from 1967 to 1997. Hatfield served as Chair of the

Senate Appropriations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committ ...

twice, and was also Governor of Oregon before his time in the Senate, from 1959 to 1967. Tom McCall 2

In 1967,

Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon, serving as the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A progressive Republican, he was known as a staunch environme ...

was elected Governor of Oregon. McCall is considered one of Oregon's most influential Governors. McCall was a staunch environmentalist and an advocate of

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

. He is notable for passing the

Oregon Bottle Bill The Oregon Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation enacted in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971 that went into effect in October 1972. It was the first such legislation in the United States. It was amended in 2007 and 2011. It requires ...

, America's first

container-deposit legislation Container-deposit legislation (also known as a container-deposit scheme, deposit-refund system or scheme, deposit-return system, or bottle bill) is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers (refillable o ...

, as well as the

Oregon Beach Bill The Oregon Beach Bill (House Bill 1601, 1967) was a piece of landmark legislation in the U.S. state of Oregon, passed by the 1967 session of the Oregon Legislature. It established public ownership of land along the Oregon Coast from the water up t ...

which established public ownership of land along the Oregon Coast from the water up to sixteen vertical feet above the low tide mark. McCall served until 1975.

Victor Atiyeh Victor George Atiyeh (; February 20, 1923 – July 20, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 32nd governor of Oregon from 1979 to 1987. He was also the first elected governor of Middle Eastern descent and of Syrian descent in the U ...

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

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

, the 38th president (1974–1977)Oregon Republicans controlled the State

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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 Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician who is the junior United States senator from Oregon. He was first elected to the Senate in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1999 to 2009 as the repres ...

. 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 Beverly A. Clarno (born March 29, 1936) is an American politician who served as the 27th Oregon Secretary of State from 2019 to 2021. She was the only Republican statewide official in Oregon at the time. Clarno previously served as a member of t ...

, who finished Richardson's term due to his death while in office.

Trump era

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 House Bill 2020 was a proposed bill in the U.S. state of Oregon that would introduce a statewide cap and trade system to reduce carbon emissions to address Climate change in Oregon, climate change. It was introduced in the Oregon Legislative Assem ...

. The walkout deepened the alignment of the party with right-wing militias, including Oregon

3 Percenters The Three Percenters are a loose anti-government network comprising militia groups and individual activists in the United States. Once a unified organization known as The Three Percenters Original, the movement has evolved into a number of i ...

and

Oath Keepers Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the government of the United States, including the transfer of presidential power as prescribed by the United States co ...

as well as

pro-Trump Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and political ideology, ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing p ...

social media. State Senator

Brian Boquist Brian James Boquist (born October 20, 1958) is an American politician from Oregon. He served in the Oregon Senate representing District 12 from 2009 until 2025 A member of the Republican Party, he briefly defected to the Independent Party from ...

threatened, in response to the state government's efforts to return him to the state capitol in Salem, "send bachelors and come heavily armed." According to the

Pew Charitable Trusts The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. Pew's stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and invigorating civic life". ...

, "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." 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.

Efforts to overturn the 2020 election

Following the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months after his defea ...

, 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 Bear spray is a specific aerosol spray bear deterrent, whose active ingredients are the potent irritant capsaicin and related capsaicinoids, that is used to deter aggressive or charging bears. History Capsaicin bear spray was developed in the ...

." The capitol break-in was promoted by the far-right

Patriot Prayer Patriot Prayer is an American far-right group founded by Joey Gibson (political activist), Joey Gibson in 2016 and based in Vancouver, Washington, a suburban city in the Portland metropolitan area. Since 2016, the group has organized several doz ...

. 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. The militia-inflamed "chaos in Oregon over the past year asa prologue to the insurrection at the U.S Capitol," in one account. 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. Also among the Oregonians arrested for the US Capitol attack was the vice chair of the Young Republicans of Oregon. "The Trump era seems only to have exacerbated the Oregon GOP’s embrace of its most extreme constituencies," writes the conservative

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

. On January 19, 2021, the Oregon Republican Party issued a resolution declaring that the

by supporters of Donald Trump was a "

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrep ...

" event meant to "discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans." Others had previously claimed antifa had staged the attack, though the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

stated there was no evidence of antifa involvement. The party resolution provoked substantial controversy. Oregon's House Republicans pointedly disavowed the party resolution, and State Senator

Tim Knopp Tim Knopp (born September 30, 1965) is an American politician and businessman who served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, and the Oregon State Senate from 2013 to 2025. A mem ...

stated publicly that he did "not support the Oregon Republican Party’s resolution."

Knute Buehler Knute Carl Buehler (born August 1, 1964) is an American physician and politician who served as the Oregon State Representative for the 54th district from 2015 until January 2019. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon in the 201 ...

, a former Oregon House member and recent Republican gubernatorial nominee, "filed to change his registration from Republican to independent." State Senator

also left the party and joined the

Independent Party of Oregon 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 ...

. More than 6,000 Republicans left the party in January 2021.John Tierney
"More than 6,000 Oregonians left the Republican Party in January,"
KGW.com (February 2, 2021) In early February, state voter registration indicates a total of 11,000 registered Republicans in Oregon have left the party since Election Day. 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. Senator Heard was succeeded as Chair first by

Josephine County Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is named after Virginia Josephine Rollins (1834–1912), a settler who was t ...

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 Dennis Linthicum (born 1956) is an American politician who served in the Oregon Senate from 2017 until 2025. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and career Linthicum graduated with a bachelors in economics from University of Cali ...

, State Senator from Klamath Falls, was replaced by Sodaville

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

Alex McHaddad. Dr. Angela Plowhead was elected Vice Chair in September 2022.

Platform

The party's formal platform, adopted in 2015, expresses

opposition to abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the legal ...

and

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

; support for mandatory minimum sentencing for violent offenders,

truth-in-sentencing Truth in sentencing (TIS) is a collection of different but related public policy stances on sentencing of those convicted of crimes in the justice system. In most contexts, it refers to policies and legislation that aim to abolish or curb parole ...

laws, and the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

; lower taxes; deregulation and minimal government intervention in the economy; opposition to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

; repeal of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

; opposition for "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants; an individual

right to keep and bear arms The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for Self-defense#Armed, self ...

; and

voter ID laws A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...

. The party's platform, amended in 2019, includes opposition to

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact MD, NJ, IL, HI, WA, MA, DC, VT, CA, RI, NY, CT, CO, DE, NM, OR, MN, ME AZ, KS, PA, SC, VA, TX, MT The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all t ...

, 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 The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

; 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." 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." 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.

Past elections

Presidents

Republican nominees won 25 of Oregon's 32 Presidential popular votes from 1860 to 1984.Oregon Republican Party
"Short History of the Oregon Republican Party,"
www.oregon.gop/ Since 1988 the Democratic presidential nominee has won 8 straight popular votes.

Governance

The party is run by an elected state Leadership Team.

County parties

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.

Party Chairs

Current elected officials

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

* None Both of Oregon's

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

seats have been held by Democrats since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Gordon H. Smith was the last Republican to represent Oregon in the U.S. Senate. Elected in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, Smith lost his second re-election attempt in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

who has held the seat since. The Oregon Republican Party holds one of the state's six U.S. House seats.

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the six seats Oregon is apportioned in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, one is held by a Republican:

Statewide offices

* None Oregon has not had a Republican in statewide office since 2021 after the retirement of Secretary of State

and the election of Democrat

Shemia Fagan Shemia Patricia Fagan (born September 20, 1981) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Oregon secretary of state from 2021 to 2023. She previously served as a Democratic member of the Oregon Senate, representing Senate District ...

to replace her. Clarno replaced Dennis Richardson, the last Republican to be elected to a statewide office in Oregon, upon his death from brain cancer in 2019.

State legislators

The Oregon Republican Party holds 24 of 60 seats in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

and 12 of the 30

Oregon Senate 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 Sena ...

seats. The

has a supermajority in both chambers. However, Democrats do not have the 20 seats that would be required to achieve quorum without bipartisan cooperation in the Senate, as a 2/3 quorum is required.

Senate

House of Representatives

Mayors

Of the state's ten largest cities, one has a Republican mayor as of 2023: * Medford (8): Randy Sparacino

Election results

Presidential

Gubernatorial

Footnotes

External links

Oregon Republican Party WebsiteOregon Federation of College Republicans
{{State Republican Parties in the US 1857 establishments in Oregon Territory Political parties established in 1857 Republican Party (United States) by state Republican Party