Democratic Party of Oregon Chair Meredith Wood Smith will run for re-election in 2009, DPO spokesman Marc Siegel said Thursday.

Wood Smith was elected party chair in March 2007, and guided Oregon Democrats through one of their most successful election cycles in recent memory in 2008.

During that election season, Oregon Democrats saw their voter registration numbers jump dramatically to a 240,000 vote edge, an advantage that both benefitted Presidential-elect Barack Obama, and pushed U.S. Senator-elect Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) past incumbent Senator Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton).

Democrats also won the secretary of state and state treasurer seats, and picked up five seats in the Oregon State House to give House Democrats a 36-seat super majority.

If re-elected, Wood Smith’s term will last another two years. The DPO Chair position is an unpaid position.