Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters

At the State Central Committee Meeting in Albany on February 5, Oregon Republicans passed the 2012 ‘Freedom Primary’...

The Oregon Republican Party, seeking to become more competitive in a state where most major offices are held by Democrats, announced Monday that it will open its May primary for three statewide offices to non-affiliated voters.  Oregon Republican Chairman Allen Alley said the party will allow these voters to cast ballots in the primary races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer.  However, non-affiliated voters won't be allowed to vote in the presidential primary, in legislative primaries or in any partisan races for local office. Read more at OregonLive.com...

Read the Oregon Republican Party News Release HERE. Read More......

GT: Republican candidates to hold fair Thursday

GAZETTE-TIMES, 5/4/2010 - Ten candidates whose names appear on the Republican primary ballot are scheduled to appear at a GOP candidates’ fair 6 p.m. Thursday. The event is sponsored by the Benton County Republicans. ∴ Another six candidates who are unable to attend the fair because of scheduling conflicts will be sending representatives to speak for them. The public event is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the King Tin Restaurant, 1857 N.W. Ninth St.

In all, 25 Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nomination in local, state and national positions on the May 18 primary election ballot.

Local candidates who will be appearing at the event include Jerry J. Jackson of Philomath, the only Republican candidate running for the Benton County Board of Commissioners. Jackson plans officially to kick off his campaign at the Thursday event.

Rose Cook of Philomath is the only Republican candidate for District 16 in the Oregon House of Representatives and also plans to use the occasion officially to kick off her campaign Thursday.

State Rep. Jim Thompson, whose District 23 includes portions of Benton County, is seeking re-election and is scheduled to be at the fair, as is State Rep. Andy Olson, who represents District 15.

State Sen. Frank Morse is seeking another term in the Oregon Legislature representing District 8, but he will be unable to attend the event.

Four GOP candidates seeking the party’s nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives are scheduled to attend: Jaynee Germond and Art Robinson are battling in the Fourth District, and Scott Bruun and Fred Thompson are running in the Fifth District.

Rex Watkins of Albany, one of nine Republicans contending for their party’s gubernatorial nomination, is scheduled to attend. Representatives of three other gubernatorial candidates — Allen Alley, Clark Colvin and Chris Dudley — also are scheduled. The other GOP gubernatorial candidates are W. Ames Curtright, Bob Forthan, Darren Karr, John Lim and Bill Sizemore.

Three of the GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate will have representatives at the event: Jim Huffman, Robin S. Parker and Tom Stutzman. The other candidates are G. Shane Dinkel, Loren Later, Keith Waldron and Walter H. Woodland.

Chris Telfer, a candidate for state treasurer, is scheduled to attend.

A representative for Ron Maurer, running for state superintendent of public instruction, also is scheduled to attend. Read More......

GT: CV swim coach files to run for governor

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES, 2/16/2010 by Hasso Hering - Rex Watkins believes the political pendulum in Oregon has swung so far to the left it has gotten stuck, and he’d like to do something about it. ∴ “I don’t see anybody else willing to give the pendulum a shove,” he says. ∴ So last week, Watkins paid the $100 filing fee and signed up with the state Elections Division as a candidate in the Republican primary for governor. ∴ Now he’s collecting signatures of fellow Republicans, hoping to get at least 500, which would entitle him to get into the Voters’ Pamphlet without having to pay the $3,000 fee. ∴ “I’m fairly conservative,” Watkins said in an interview. “If people took responsibility for themselves, we wouldn’t have all this dependency on government.”

Watkins, 46, grew up in Philomath and graduated in 1987 from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications.

He owns Northwest Investment Management Inc., which he runs out of his family’s home on Burkhart Street S.E. in Albany, managing 90 rental units in Albany, Corvallis and Philomath.

Watkins was a competitive swimmer at the UO and for a time held the school record in the 200-meter freestyle.

He’s worked as a swim coach for 25 years, currently coaching teams at Crescent Valley High School and in Albany.

His wife teaches school in Salem. The couple have two children.

He would like to reduce the size and cost of state government.

As a candidate, Watkins drew up a short list of things to do, starting with “review programs and departments; eliminate programs and departments not needed,” and ending with “go from shovel-ready to business friendly.”

He’s also drawn up a list of ideas he supports such as “Freedom is America’s first principle” and “Health care is a private matter, and a personal responsibility.”

He admits his campaign is a long shot, but he says he would be someone who represents “the average Joe; their perspective never makes it into government decisions.”

He can be reached through his e-mail address: rex@midvalleyrentals.com.

Election day for the Oregon primaries will be May 18. Read More......

A brawl the GOP needs

WASHINGTON POST, 11/20/2009 by David S. Broder (Hat tip: John H. Detweiler - For Sarah Palin, with her personality and history, to tell Rush Limbaugh that Republicans should welcome primary fights within their own ranks is hardly surprising. As much as it may pain her many critics, she also has a lot of history on her side. ∴ Many Republicans, looking at the recent fiasco in New York's 23rd Congressional District, argue that the endorsement by Palin and her talk-radio buddies of a rigid right-winger running on the Conservative Party ticket cost Republicans a House seat they had held for more than a century. They worry that the populist anti-establishment "rogues" like Palin will kill GOP prospects for a comeback in 2010 by backing ideologues in many other primaries and scaring off independents and moderate Republicans. ∴ They are wasting their breath on Palin, who got to be governor of Alaska by knocking off incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in a Republican primary in 2006. When she told Limbaugh, "What I appreciate about the Republican Party [is] we have contested, aggressive, competitive primaries," she had that fight in mind. Read more at the Washington Post... Read More......

Primary Election Results

Find Oregon's May 20, 2008 results:
Benton County Elections Office
Oregon Secretary of State Read More......

Presidential Primary Calendar

Accurate as of October 15. 2007 (Hat tip: Juanita)

• Jan. 3: Iowa (R). Democrats are yet to decide.
• Jan. 5: Wyoming (R)
• Jan. 15: Michigan
• Jan. 19: Nevada; South Carolina (R)
• Jan. 22: New Hampshire - but this could change soon
• Jan. 26: South Carolina Democrats want to move their presidential primary up three days. It is currently set for Jan. 29.
• Jan. 29: Florida; South Carolina (D)
• Feb. 1: Maine (R)
• Feb. 5: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (D), Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (D), New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
• Feb. 9: Louisiana
• Feb. 10: Maine (D)
• Feb. 12: District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia
• Feb. 19: Hawaii (D), Washington, Wisconsin
• March 4: Massachusetts, Minnesota (D), Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
• March 8: Wyoming (D)
• March 11: Mississippi
• April 22: Pennsylvania
• May 6: Indiana, North Carolina
• May 13: Nebraska, West Virginia
• May 20: Kentucky, Oregon
• May 27: Idaho (R)
• June 3: Montana, New Mexico (R), South Dakota

Kansas decided not to hold a presidential primary election in 2008

Read More......