OREGON 7 Electoral Votes

Although considered a battleground state, Oregon saw only a smattering of visits by the principals; one noteworthy day was August 13, when both President Bush and Senator Kerry were in Portland.

Assessing the outcome, BC'04 executive director Doug Badger pointed to an interesting exit poll statistic.  According to Badger, Bush lost the independent vote in Oregon by 18 points compared to just one point nationally.  He attributes most of that to the war in Iraq.
 
Bush-Cheney '04 Kerry-Edwards 2004
Organization details...  details...
BC'04 Executive Director: Doug Badger

Victory '04 Director: Jeb Mason

Oregon Republican Party
State Chair: Kevin Mannix
Exec. Director: Amy Casterline

KE State Director: Paige Richardson

Carry Oregon (Coordinated Campaign) Director: Kendra-Sue Derby

Democratic Party of Oregon
State Chair: Jim Edmunson
Exec. Director: Neel Pender

Travel  compare...
BUSH-CHENEY KERRY-EDWARDS
Final Month (Oct. 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 1 visit (1 day)
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 0 visits 
Laura Bush (solo) - 0 visits
John Kerry - 0 visits 
John Edwards - 1 visit (1 day) 
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits 
Eight Months (March 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 2 visits (2 days)
Dick Cheney - 4 visits (4 days)
Laura Bush (solo) -  2 visits (2 days) 
Lynne Cheney (solo) - 1 visit (2 days)
John Kerry - 3 visits (6 days)
John Edwards - 2 visits (2 days) 
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits

Newspaper Endorsements source: Editor & Publisher
BUSH
The Bulletin [Bend]
The News-Review [Roseburg] (10/18/04)
Albany Democrat-Herald
Daily Courier [Grants Pass]
Argus Observer [Ontario]
KERRY
The Oregonian  (10/10/04)
The Register Guard [Eugene]
Statesman Journal [Salem]
Mail Tribune [Medford]  (10/17/04)
The World [Coos Bay]
East Oregonian [Pendleton]
Daily Astorian  (10/18/04)

Note the Oregonian supported Bush in 2000.


Oregon's Four Largest Counties: 2000 and 2004
Multnomah County (Portland)
.2000
.
.2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
188,441
(63.52%)
.
Kerry/Edwards (D)
259,585
 (71.57%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
83,677
(28.20%)
.
Bush/Cheney (R)
98,439
(27.14%)
Nader/LaDuke (P)
21,048
(7.09%)
.
 
Others (4+misc)
3,519
(1.19%)
.
Others (3+misc)
4,670
(1.29%)
Total
296,685
.
Total
362,694
19.34% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
104,764 
19.75% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
161,146 

Washington County (Beaverton)
.2000
.
.2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
90,662
(48.75%)
.
Kerry/Edwards (D)
121,140
 (52.37%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
86,091
(46.29%)
.
Bush/Cheney (R)
107,223
(46.36%)
Nader/LaDuke (P)
6,985
(3.76%)
.
 
Others (4+misc)
2,236
(1.20%)
.
Others (3+misc)
2,945
(1.27%)
Total
185,974
.
Total
231,308
12.12% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
4,571 
12.59% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
13,917 

Clackamas County (Lake Oswego)
.2000
.
.2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
76,421
(47.10%)
.
Kerry/Edwards (D)
95,129
 (48.78%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
77,539
(47.79%)
.
Bush/Cheney (R)
97,691
(50.10%)
Nader/LaDuke (P)
6,357
(3.92%)
.
 
Others (4+misc)
1,945
(1.20%)
.
Others (3+misc)
2,180
(1.12%)
Total
162,262
.
Total
195,000
10.58% of statewide total
Bush plurality:
1,118 
10.62% of statewide total
Bush plurality:
2,562 

Lane County (Eugene)
.2000
.
.2004
Gore/Lieberman (D)
78,583
(51.64%)
.
Kerry/Edwards (D)
107,769
 (57.98%)
Bush/Cheney (R)
61,578
(40.46%)
.
Bush/Cheney (R)
75,007
(40.35%)
Nader/LaDuke (P)
10,245
(6.73%)
.
 
Others (4+misc)
1,782
(1.17%)
.
Others (3+misc)
3,096
(1.67%)
Total
152,188
.
Total
185,872
9.92% of statewide total
Gore plurality:
17,005
10.12% of statewide total
Kerry plurality:
32,762


Third Party and Independent
Nader Ballot Access
Nader-Kucera.  The campaign's path to ballot access encountered obstacle after obstacle in Oregon.  Oregon offers two paths to ballot access: a candidate can either obtain the signatures of 1,000 registered voters on a single day or obtain 15,306 signatures statewide by the August 24, 2004 deadline.  On April 5, 2004 Nader held a nominating convention at Roseland Theatre in Portland, but failed to draw enough people (the AP reported 741 people attended).  Nader held a second nominating convention at Benson High School in Portland on June 26.  Aiming to help the Bush campaign, two conservative groups, the Oregon Family Council and Oregon Citizens for a Sound Economy >, made phone calls to encourage their supporters to show up at the convention.  Bush-Cheney '04 supporters also made calls on a "voluntary" basis.  [Citizens for Reponsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a DC-based watchdog group, filed a complaint with the FEC on June 30 charging the assistance amounted to an illegal in-kind contribution].

In any event the convention failed, and in July Nader opted for a statewide petition effort.  Election officials then challenged whether Peter Miguel Camejo could appear on the ballot as Nader's running mate since he had not been an Independent for 180 days; the campaign substituted Sandra Kucera, a legal assistant to Greg Kafoury, the Portland attorney who heads the Oregon campaign.  The Nader campaign accused Democrats of engaging in "dirty tricks" by having lawyers threaten signature gatherers. [Aug. 13, 2004 press release, affadavit]  Despite these obstacles, on August 24 the campaign announced it had submitted more than enough signatures to be included on the ballot in Oregon, turning in 18,047 valid signatures verified by the counties out of more than 29,000 signatures submitted.

However, Secretary of State Bill Bradley (D) rejected about 3,000 of these signatures based on directives and on September 1 said the campaign had fallen short by 218 signatures.  On September 9 Marion County Circuit Court presiding judge Paul Lipscomb ruled that Nader should appear on the ballot because the Secretary of State had disqualified the signatures without apparent statutory or administrative authority.  On September 15 the Secretary of State asked the Oregon Supreme Court, in the words of commununications director Anne Mertens, for "an expedited mandamus review of that ruling, both for the immediate issue of whether the county judge was correct and for the larger issue of whether the Secretary of State may enforce fraud prevention rules."  On September 22 the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Circuit Court and ruled that the Secretary of State had acted within his authority.  Nader appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing, according to a press release, that "the Secretary of State's actions violated the rights of voters and circulators under the United States Constitution."  The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument on September 28.
 

State Coordinators
Nader: Greg Kafoury, Travis Diskin
Cobb: Matthew Denney; also Blair Bobier, a Pacific Green activist, served as Cobb's media coordinator
 

More Candidate Visits
NADER-CAMEJO
October 10, 2004
Evening campaign speech/rally at McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR.

June 26, 2004
Nominating Convention at Benson High School Auditorium in Portland, OR.

April 5, 2004
Nominating Convention at the Roseland Theatre in Portland, OR.
 

COBB-LaMARCHE
October 4, 2004
David Cobb does press conference with local candidates at 1020 SW Taylor in Portland.
House party and fundraiser in Northeast Portland.
"Rock n Register Benefit Concert/FUN raiser" at Odd Fellows Fellowship Hall in Corvallis.

October 1, 2004
Pat LaMarche, on her "Left Out Tour," joins activists in Pioneer Courthouse Square to conduct a voter registration drive in honor of National Homeless and Low Income Voter Registration Week then overnights at Dignity Village in Portland, OR.
 

Copyright ©  2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action



The 2004 Campaign on the Web--Oregon  11/01/04
Oregonians for Kerry-Edwards
ww.oregonians4kerry.org
Environmental Victory Project
lcv.bluestatedigital.com/?id=9
Bus Project
www.busproject.org
Oregon Republican Party
www.orgop.org
Democratic Party of Oregon
www.dpo.org
.
Libertarian Party of Oregon
www.lporegon.org
Pacific Green Party
www.pacificgreens.org
Constitution Party of Oregon
www.constitutionpartyoregon.org
.
Al King (R)
www.grassleyworks.com
Ron Wyden (D)
www.wydenteam.com
Teresa Keane (G)
www.votekeane.org
Dan Fitzgerald (L)
www.geocities.com/dangfitz
.
...U.S. Senate
Dave Brownlow (C)
www.davebrownlow.com