At a recent Bend Chamber of Commerce forum Sal Peralta, secretary of the Independent Party of Oregon, and Robert Harris, attorney and founder of Harris Law Firm / supporter of the IPO, explained the premise and mission of the new organization that is hoping to be on the primary ballot in 2016.
Dr. Knute Buehler, Oregon House of Representatives(District 54Republican) and Oregon Senator Betsy Johnson (Democrat-Scappoose) were included on the panel, both expressing their support of offering a place on the ballot to the IPO.
A national poll shows that 36 percent of Americans believe themselves to be well-represented by the two major parties but 51 percent say three or more parties are needed. With 36 percent of registered voters in Bend reported to be a registered Independent or having no affiliation at all (referred to as nonaffiliated voters – NAVs), the IPO may have a place in our region. In 2001, 75 percent of Oregon voters were registered as Democrats or Republicans. As of last month, that number had fallen to 67 percent.
Former Republican State Senator from Bend, Chris Telfer CPA is a newly registered Independent:
“As a State Senator I came to realize the extreme polarization of those in-charge of making laws and policy in Oregon did not represent a very large number of Oregonians,” says Telfer. “I joined the IPO as it represents the “otherness” of Oregon and I wanted to be a part of a political party that was more representative of the wholeness of Oregon.”
On August 17, Oregon’s secretary of state will decide whether enough people have joined the Independent Party of Oregon to make it the state’s third “major” political party in time for the 2016 election. The membership of the party, which was founded in response to Democratic- and Republican-sponsored legislation that made it harder for citizens to run for public office as something other than a Democrat or Republican, now stands at 109,000. That’s just a few hundred people above the threshold required to reach major party status.
The party was founded in 2007 after Democrats and Republicans passed legislation making it harder to run for public office and removed the word “independent” on all ballots and voter registration cards. In response to this new law, citizen activists collected 26,000 signatures during 2006 to form the Independent Party of Oregon.
Currently the party has approximately 109,150registered members. In order to officially be recognized they have to have 108,789 registered members by August 15. Oregon has five otherminor political parties identified but the combination of members is well below 15,000.
Peralta says he didn’t anticipate that many voters joining stating, “the growth has been exponential.” He offers that 60 percent of Americans do not feel well represented and half are under the age of 40.
“A lot of people who registered Independent are frustrated with both the Democrats and the Republicans,” says Peralta.
Traditional third party candidates typically run to the left of the Democrats or to the right of Republicans. “If you run as the third party candidate, we think we can open up the electoral map and give people a choice,” says Peralta.
The Independent Party of Oregon has a stated platform that favors reducing special interest influence over our government processes, increasing transparency in government particularly with how our tax dollars are spent and how the public’s business is conducted in Salem, protecting Oregon consumers particularly with respect to banks, insurance companies and private utilities, providing incentives for small businesses to thrive and for larger businesses to expand in Oregon in a way that returns more benefits to the public than it costs.
Harris insists the IPO isn’t a fringe party, “Don’t be afraid to join the IPO,” he says, “really smart people are involved. I came onboard after being a Democratic, reaching frustration levels with the party. I have the largest private law firm in Washington County, I have served as a municipal judge. I joined the IPO because I’m concerned about taxes going up, PERS, Democrats not listening.”
Representative Buehler says the question you should ask yourself ‘is this party good for Oregon?’
“There are two issues at hand here, one is the politics of the situation and the second is the policy…too many people are not defined by the narrow view of the traditional party,” says Buehler. “In this district, Independents outnumber the Democrats and Republicans.”
Buehler says the first place that it’s troubling is in the legislature referring to ‘the cloud of the caucus.’
“The heads of the caucus have inordinate power by bending the rules. No bill goes to a vote without their approved. They’ve created their own dictatorship within the legislature. They can do anything they want.
“The second source of the power comes with campaign activity funneled through the caucus. It’s very difficult to run independently of your party. It’s time to change the dictatorship and reform the primary election system. It’s ludicrous that the State of Oregon spends only second to New Jersey on campaigns.
“The other policy is to focus on how we draw electoral districts…only at best 10 percent of our legislative races are contested. There is no reason why the parties should select our elected officials.
“So allowing an Independent party to be formed is good for Oregon. I’m hopeful for their success.”
Representative Johnson, with a long history of family politics coming from Central Oregon, says that the process that Buehler described is true.
“House Bill 3500 (establishing a task force on expanding access to more voters in primary elections to conduct analysis and determine best method or methods to expand access to more electors in primary elections in Oregon) was designed to stab at the Independent party and is flawed policy.
“I’ve had my issues with the IPO but I’ve come believe that we have lost the middle and polarized the party interaction, there needs to be a restoration of the moderate middle or we’re going to lose the Oregon that we know and love.
“We don’t take the time to meet and talk to each other. We should be supporting the IPO and the legislature should let them in the process. IPO should have a place on the ballot.
“We do our best work when we are together and have adequate time to discuss the issues. I also subscribe to their platform,” concludes Johnson.
Harris adds that the IPO is still a work in progress but is developing into a locally controlled chapter organization.
http://www.indparty.com
