Home » OUR PARTY

About the Party

The Democratic Party is one of two major and around a dozen smaller political parties in the United States. The party's members are voters nationwide that identify with and support the basic principles of the party. Individual candidates, voters, and elected officials may all have different viewpoints on any given issue, but in modern times Democrats have always stood for protecting equality of opportunity and using government as a positive force for building stronger, healthier, smarter communities.

The Democratic Party is organized into a national commiteee, a state committee in each state, and hundreds of local committees. The Democratic Party of Oregon is the Oregon "branch" of the Democratic National Committee, and in Oregon, each county has a committee as well.

The state and local committees serve two primary functions: they elect delegates that represent them at higher levels by voting on officers and policies, and they work locally to help get Democrats elected to office at all levels.

The Democratic Party of Oregon was founded in 1851 in the Oregon Territory, preceding statehood by 8 years. Today, there are over 750,000 registered Democrats in Oregon, making it Oregon's most popular political party.

Oregon voters can choose a party when they register to vote. Democratic candidates for office are chosen by registered Democratic voters in the party primary elections, held in May of even-numbered years. Only registered Democrats can run in the Democratic primary election and only registered Democrats can vote to select the Democratic candidates for office. (Of course, the same is true for Republicans, Libertarians, Socialists, and all the other parties registered in Oregon.)

Party Headquarters in Portland The Democratic Party of Oregon has its headquarters in Portland, and shares office space with the state house and senate campaign organizations, Multnomah County Democrats, and various other campaign offices.


 

The state party performs many functions, all ultimately designed to help Democrats win elected offices.

We have field organizers who are tasked with building the Neighbor to Neighbor Program - activists going door to door for the party and candidates.

We coordinate state-wide campaigns for the general elections every two years, and we help recruit volunteers for dozens of local campaigns.

We work to get articles into the newspaper, letters to the editor, and callers on talk radio stations.
We operate this web site and assist county parties in developing their own web sites.
We send out email announcements to interested Democrats about party activities, volunteer opportunties, events. (sign up at the top of this page!)
We operate the state Voter File, used by candidates to contact voters in their districts.
We conduct quarterly meetings where delegates from county parties come to vote on issues, set party policy, and attend training classes.

 

Look for more...