Press Releases

Oregon Bucks National Tide

Nov 03, 2010


Once again Oregon stands strong by voting on values

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amy Wojcicki, Communications Director – amy [at] dpo [dot] org – (503) 960-2227

PORTLAND, Oregon (November 3, 2010) – 

Last night Oregonians made a strong  stand by voting for their values and priorities. Oregon bucked national trends by electing Democrat John Kitzhaber as Governor and re-elected its entire Democratic Congressional delegation.

One thing was clear: Democrats won by having one-on-one conversations about the priorities and values that define Oregon.

“We had an unparalleled field and volunteer plan that made all the difference in this campaign,” said Trent Lutz, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “Races this close are decided by field campaigns. We knew if everyday we worked hard to discuss the differences on the issues between John Kitzhaber and Chris Dudley, that we'd bring our supporters home and win.”

In mid-August, the Democratic Party of Oregon was called upon to mount an aggressive statewide field campaign to persuade independents, solidify support among Democrats and get low-likelihood voters out to vote.

Contacts chart

The Democratic Coordinated field campaign, combining the efforts of thousands of volunteers along with dozens of partner organizations, made a total of over 446,000 contacts by phone and knocked on over 303,000 doors. It showed, as the field campaign  spoke with voters, they moved from supporting Dudley to Kitzhaber.

Pollster.com graph

The campaign was capped off by what The Oregonian called a "furious get out the vote" campaign that turned out more votes in Multnomah County on election day than in 2008.

“Dudley’s massive fundraising kept him close, but our one-on-one voter contact ensured that John Kitzhaber would be elected Oregon’s next governor,” said Meredith Wood Smith, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon.

The Democratic Coordinated Campaign worked on the Governor's race, and the campaigns of Senator Ron Wyden and Congressional races of Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, David Wu and Kurt Schrader.

“Oregonians voted their values and their priorities,” said Wood Smith, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “Today, we congratulate Governor-elect Kitzhaber and our Congressional delegation on their hard-fought victories. Now that the election has been decided we look forward to the strong and experienced leadership that will move Oregon forward.”

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