Like many otherU.S. states, thepolitics of Oregon largely concerns regional issues.^[1]Oregon leans Democratic as a state, with both U.S.senators from theDemocratic party,^[2] as well as five out of Oregon's sixU.S. Representatives.^[3] The Democratic candidate for president has won in Oregon in every election since 1988.^[4] Both houses ofOregon's legislative assembly have been under Democratic control since the 2012 elections.^[5]

For most of its existence, Oregon was the most consistentlyRepublicanwest coast state.^[6] Between 1860 and 1984, the state voted Democratic just six times, in 1868, 1912, 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1964.

In 1954, the upset of incumbent Republican SenatorGuy Cordon by DemocratRichard 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 the beginning of a shift towards the Democratic Party.^[6] The lastRepublican governor of Oregon wasVictor G. Atiyeh, who served from 1979 to 1987.^[7][8] Since 1988, Oregon voters have consistently favored Democratic candidates for most major elected positions, including the U.S. presidency.

The longest-serving governor in Oregon history isJohn Kitzhaber, who served two consecutive terms as governor, then left office before returning to win a third term in 2010 ahead of Republican and formerPortland Trail BlazerChris Dudley and the 2014 election against RepublicanDennis Richardson. Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015 after allegations of financial impropriety involving his partner and girlfriend,Cylvia Hayes, and certain lobbying efforts.^[11][12][13]

The state is broken up into two main geographically separate political areas: the generally liberal cities and towns of theWillamette Valley andcentral/northern coast. The rest of the state (apart fromAshland andBend) has voters are typically conservative or right wing.^[1][14] While about 47% of the population of Oregon lives in thePortland metropolitan area as of 2013,^[15][16] the rest of the state has a rural population with generally conservative views onstate taxes. Because of the greater population living in the liberal Willamette Valley cities compared to the rest of Oregon, the state has very liberal laws, including on public health care,^[17][18] recreational andmedical marijuana,^[19]assisted dying,^[20] and environmental protections.^[21]

In the2016 presidential election, DemocratHillary Clinton received 50.07% of the vote, while Republican candidateDonald Trump received 39.09%. Trump performed best inLake County, winning 77% of the 5,400 registered voters.Hillary Clinton performed best in Multnomah County, where she received 73% of the vote.Libertarian candidateGary Johnson performed best inGilliam County, where he received 8% of the vote. Columbia and Tillamook counties in the far northwest of Oregon are among 181 pivot counties out of more than 3,000 counties nationwide that Barack Obama carried in 2008 and 2012, but flipped to Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.^[22]

Oregon's politics are largely divided by theCascade Mountains, with much ofwestern Oregon leaning Democratic andeastern Oregon leaning Republican.^[23] The rapidly-growing area around Bend in Central Oregon has created Democratic voter registration majorities in Deschutes County.^[24] Republicans have some strongholds in the western part of the state outside of larger cities.^[25]Linn County, between the liberal cities of Eugene and Salem, has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1980.^[26]Southern Oregon is also a Republican stronghold, except inJackson County, which frequently votes for both Republican and Democratic candidates.

In the1998 gubernatorial election, the only county won by Republican candidateBill Sizemore wasMalheur County. Because of the concentration of population in Portland and the Willamette Valley,Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, won the2018 election despite carrying only 7 of Oregon's 36 counties.

Based on voting data from the2012 presidential election,Ontario in Malheur County was rated as the most Republican in the state.^[27]Gresham inMultnomah County was rated as the most Democratic.^[28]

The last time a Democrat won every county in the state in a presidential election was in1936, whenFranklin D. Roosevelt carried all counties. The last time a Republican accomplished this feat was in1928, when every county was won byHerbert Hoover. The last time a third-party candidate won any county was in1912, whenTheodore Roosevelt carried Clatsop, Columbia, Jackson, and Washington counties on the Progressive ticket. Independent candidateRoss Perot won 24.7% of the1992 presidential vote in Oregon, but carried no counties.

Similar to the West Coast states of California and Washington, Oregon has a high percentage of people who identify as liberals. A 2013Gallup poll that surveyed the political ideology of residents in every state found that people in Oregon identified as:^[29]

• 34.8%moderate
• 33.6%conservative
• 27.9%liberal

A 2008 analysis by political statisticianNate Silver on states' 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.).^[30]

According to the state's election agency, as of September 2022, there were 2,995,364 registered voters in Oregon.

Oregon currently has sixHouse districts. In the 119th Congress, five of Oregon's seats are held by Democrats and one is held by a Republican:

• Oregon's 1st congressional district represented bySuzanne Bonamici (D)
• Oregon's 2nd congressional district represented byCliff Bentz (R)
• Oregon's 3rd congressional district represented byMaxine Dexter (D)
• Oregon's 4th congressional district represented byVal Hoyle (D)
• Oregon's 5th congressional district represented byJanelle Bynum (D)
• Oregon's 6th congressional district represented byAndrea Salinas (D)

Oregon's two United States senators are DemocratsRon Wyden andJeff Merkley, serving since 1996 and 2009, respectively.

Oregon is part of theUnited States District Court for the District of Oregon in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the San Francisco-basedUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

• Political party strength in Oregon

• Politics of Oregon

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