Oregon is very difficult terrain for Republicans. Democrats hold an 11-point advantage in voter registration, 43 percent to 32 percent, while another 26 percent are unaffiliated. Republicans lost a Senate seat in 2008 when GOP incumbent Gordon Smith was defeated.
Meanwhile, Democrats hold the Governor’s office, and control both chambers of the state legislature, with an 18-seat to 12-seat majority in the state Senate and a 36-seat to 24-seat advantage in the state House. They also have four of the state’s five congressional seats. There have been some close calls in recent presidential contests. In 2000, Al Gore
carried the state by just 6,765 votes largely because independent Ralph Nader siphoned off five percent of the vote. Sen. John Kerry carried the state with 51 percent in 2004, while President Obama took 57 percent in 2008.
Given Democrats’ strength and a very weak GOP bench, it’s not that surprising that no Republican has stepped forward to challenge Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. Any Republican with statewide aspirations is more focused on the open gubernatorial contest next year.
A long-time activist for
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.