Ron Saxton

Since the last elected Republican governor of Oregon, Vic Atiyeh, took office in January of 1979, it doesn’t look good for the party’s 2010 prospects.

Will Republicans compete in the race for Attorney General after all?  State election officials confirm that over 12,000 write-in votes were cast in the GOP primary, where no candidate had filed – although they have not yet tabulated the results.  It’s presumed that the beneficiary of the substantial write-in campaign was former gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton, who was being pushed by conservative activists.  A race between Saxton and Democrat John Kroger could be interesting, although it’s more likely that that Saxton will decline and Oregon Republicans will conduct a search for a new candidate.

Now that the primary dust is beginning to settle, many pundits are speculating which candidates will be victorious in November.  Here is the "conventional wisdom" being spread at the start of this general election season.

An old TV ad from Ron Saxton's gubernatorial campaign attacking Kevin Mannix is making the rounds again:

Since no candidate filed for the Attorney General race this season, most GOPers assume they are left with a choice between Democrats Greg Macpherson and John Kroger.  However, one blogosphere is trying to do what Vance Day and other Republican leaders couldn't accomplish by attempting a write-in campaign for former gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton.

While Democrats concede that Darlene Hooley’s retirement makes the District 5 race increasingly competitive, they say they have reason to remain confident in their chances of holding the seat.  read more »

With Darlene Hooley out of the 5th CD race, the Republicans see a clear opportunity to rekindle some party strength in what many view as a solid blue state. The opening of the most competitive district in the state now gives the national Republican party some incentive to step into the state and save their party from drowning into the blue abyss.  read more »

Jon Isaacs' FuturePAC campaign for House Democrats in '06 is #3 on the list

One of our regular features at PolitickerOR.com will be a series of lists that we hope you will enjoy. With the launch of our new Oregon-based political news site, we are pleased to offer our lists of Oregon's Ten Best and Worst Campaigns of the 21st Century.

For the most part, we looked at races that were highly competitive. Some campaigns perform extremely well, but of course, they are expected to win. And there are the so-called sacrificial lambs, running for various offices across the state that are not expected to raise money, go in the mailbox, or even send out press releases; we tried not to bother them.

Remember, this list – like all lists – are highly subjective. And as always, we encourage the feedback of our readers.

Oregon's Ten Best Campaigns of the 21st Century

Oregon's Ten Worst Campaigns of the 21st Century