Oregon Legal Research Blog
Brace yourself for a fun Oregon Election ballot in November 2010.
If you want to participate, don’t forget to register to vote. Visit the Oregon Secretary of State Election Division or your county election office for information on registering online or in person.
November 2010 is the time to vote for a new Oregon Gubernator. (Why else would they call it a gubernatorial election?)
Oregon Political Parties and Gubernatorial Candidates so far:
1) Constitution: Greg Kord
2) Democrat: John Kitzhaber (and Wikipedia and Facebook pages)
3) Independent: Richard Esterman (and Facebook)
4) Libertarian: Wes Wagner (also Wikipedia)
5) Pacific Green Party (no candidate?)
6) Progressive Party (also Wikipedia) (no candidate?)
7) Republican: Chris Dudley (and Wikipedia and Facebook pages)
8) Working Families Party (also Wikipedia and Facebook) (no candidate?)
In addition to that Gubernator (aka Governor), you will have lots of other decisions to make, including a U.S. Senate seat and U.S. House of Representatives seats to fill. For updates on statewide measures, visit candidate websites, read the news (paper and digital), and attend local events where candidates are speaking.
Local: Check your county election office and website for updates. (You can also visit the Oregon Legislature’s webpage, Find Your Legislator, to identify your state and federal representatives.)
MORE ELECTION FUN: Ballot Measures, oh boy:
Local newspapers and websites have been running stories about upcoming ballot measures and profiling candidates for local and statewide office.
You can also check the searchable database at the Secretary of State’s office. It’s not entirely intuitive, but not bad as these databases go so play around with it and you’ll figure it out. I have phoned their office in moments of frustration and staff members were very helpful.
City and County measures and local officials will be on the ballot. For example, in Multnomah County, you’ll see a full election ballot, including ones on county officeholder term limits, Salary commission, Vacancy in office, Election to fill vacancies, library tax district, and officeholder right to hold and run (i.e. hold onto current office while running for another position).
Other Oregon election websites to explore:
1) Politics1 (Oregon)
2) Green Papers 2010. (The Oregon 2009 and 2008 Green Papers and the Green Papers homepage.)
3) Wikipedia Oregon Gubernatorial 2010 Election
4) If you are so inclined, take a look at these political party bylaws.
5) Don’t forget to visit Ballotpedia if you’re a real election wonk! (Ballotpedia, Oregon)