Current News

With potentially hundreds of thousands of California voters under the mistaken belief that they are registered as independent from partisan affiliation, newly drafted state legislation could end the confusion by forcing one minor political party to change its name.

Non-affiliated Oregon voters requested 97 percent fewer ballots for the Independent Party of Oregon's primary election this year compared with 2016. Source: Far fewer non-affiliated Oregon voters participating in Independent primary

In one key way, Oregon lags other states in making voting easy. Its closed primary system locks out hundreds of thousands of non-affiliated voters who now make up one-third of Oregon's registrants. Oregonians should keep up the pressure on the parties to open their primaries and on the secretary of state candidates to also make this a central part of their platform.

Oregon led the pack for a time in terms of innovations to help people participate in elections, write David Ellis and Jeremy Gruber. its refusal to open the Democratic and Republican primaries to non-affiliated voters, however, lags far behind other states that have embraced open primaries.

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%

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

Nancy Jacobson, No Labels CEO, has an L.A. Times opinion piece attacking two-party “duopoly” and defending its plans for a potential third-party presidential bid. One bit of news in the column: it goes further than Ben Chavis said yesterday in … Continue reading No Labels defends its plans →

Jonathan Chait in the Intelligencer, discussing the twin threats to Biden from Cornel West and No Labels. Interesting comparison at the end of the piece to Truman in 1948, who also faced splintering from two different sides: Strom Thurmond as … Continue reading “Joe Biden May Face Two Spoiler Candidates in 2024” →

POLITICO: “The centrist group consists of a constellation of entities, some of which disclose donor names. But the main one is a nonprofit which, unlike political parties, does not have to reveal the names of its funders. And in an … Continue reading “No Labels declines to reveal just who is funding its third party bid” →

Julie Bykowicz for WSJ: The 13-year-old nonprofit group, which has a $70 million budget, has qualified for the ballot in Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Utah and is pursuing access elsewhere. Arizona Democrats are suing to kick No Labels off the … Continue reading “A Mysteriously Financed Group That Could Upend a Biden-Trump Rematch” →

McMinnville child welfare worker claims that Senate absences and fundraising activities are unlawful — and she wants the state to investigate.

Despite widespread support among voters—and a Democratic supermajority in the capitol—opponents of the state’s cap-and-trade legislation opted for anarchy instead.

The Oregon Republican senators who've walked out on #HB2020 and a cap-and-trade vote say they're representing their constituents. Taken together, their campaigns have been funded by one primary constituent: Corporate America. pic.twitter.com/i29Ul714bB— Rob Davis (@robwdavis) June 24, 2019

Here's what you need to know as lawmakers prepare to wrap things up in Salem

Oregon's high-spending session, which ended Saturday evening, was made possible by an unexpectedly robust rebound in Oregon’s economy and an infusion of billions of dollars in federal recovery funds. Sweeping police accountability reforms passed thanks to lawmakers’ heightened awareness of racial inequities and desire to address them, but leaders from communities of color cited several major proposals legislators failed to pass.

This year the legislative session needed to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, which meant closing the Capitol to the public.

Pharmaceutical companies spent nearly $2 million on lobbying during Oregon’s legislative session this year, as the drug industry worked to block lawmakers’ proposal to create a board empowered to set price limits for the costliest medicines. It would have put Oregon at the forefront nationally in addressing prescription drug costs.

Two Republican political consultants filed campaign finance complaints against a liberal political action committee running radio ads.

Most every other state in the country requires only a simple majority of lawmakers be present in order to conduct legislative business, write Reps. David Gomberg and Khanh Pham. It's time that Oregon lower its quorum requirement as well and prevent legislative walkouts for good.

Here are the highlights of lawmakers work over the contentious five-month session.

The Oregon Legislature ended the 2023 legislative session with a few hours to spare late Sunday afternoon.

Several key environmental bills to help protect communities against the effect of climate change have passed the Oregon Legislature.

In November 2024, voters will decide whether to use ranked choice voting in races after January 1, 2028 for president, seats in Congress, governor, Oregon secretary of state and some others.

Oregon is the only U.S. state without some form of impeachment powers in its state constitution.

Oregon's constitution has no impeachment process for statewide elected officials. That could change next year.

The veg in question is already famously linked to another state.