Suburban Republicans reflect on Oregon s GOP
In Clackamas County - a Republican stronghold - elected officials and party leaders decline to comment.
The Portland Tribune asked some of our suburban sister publications within the Pamplin Media Group to reach out to prominent Republicans in their community, to get their take on the rift within the GOP.
Reporter Sam Stites in Clackamas County found, across the board, Republicans reluctant to wade into the story.
Clackamas County GOP chair Margie Hughes did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did any other elected officials or party leaders in the county.
As far as county politics go, Republicans have been far more successful in recent years in Clackamas County than they have in Multnomah or Washington counties.
In those two decades, voters have elected Republicans statewide only twice.
One was Gordon Smith, who won a second term in the U.S. Senate in 2002 but lost six years later. He became president of the National Association of Broadcasters. He maintains a home in Pendleton, but has said he will not seek public office again.
The other was Dennis Richardson, a former state representative who lost to Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2014, but was elected secretary of state two years later. Richardson died of cancer in 2019.
One of Richardson s early endorsers for governor in 2013 was Atiyeh, who knew about second chances. He was elected governor on his second try in 1978 (he lost four years earlier) and was re-elected in 1982.
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