It s the longest streak for either major party in Oregon history.
Republicans dominated statewide offices when Atiyeh was governor 40 years ago. They were led by Oregon s U.S. senators of that era â Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood, each with five victories â but also the secretary of state, state treasurer and attorney general, even though Democrats controlled the Legislature.
Republicans have become a threatened species at the statewide level. Just two Republicans have been elected to statewide office in the past two decades.
Their ranks are shrinking further.
Knute Buehler once carried the GOP banner in Oregon, now he s left the party
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.
With the addition of a Vietnamese American, a Latina, a Latino and a Somali immigrant, the Legislature will include a record 12 people of color, including three Black men in the Senate. The House will be 15% non-white.