The Oregon Republican Party is coming off an election where sentiments against Republican elected officials at the national level may have led to the defeat of incumbent state reps, qualified  statewide candidates, and U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton).

Outgoing State Reps. John Lim and Linda Flores desperately battled against an influx of Democratic money. Smith aired campaign commercials touting his excellent working relationships with liberal Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Ted Kennedy(D-Mass), and Ron Wyden (D-Portland).

Nothing seemed to work.
 
“It was a national wave that started on the east coast and moved west,” said Andrew Over, executive director of the Oregon Republican Party. “By the time it hit Oregon it hadn’t lost much steam. Our Republican candidates were riding against a big national tidal wave.”

That wave swept through the Beaver State, as an overwhelming number of Oregonians re-registered under the Democratic banner and backed Barack Obama. By the time all the ballots had been counted, Republicans found themselves facing a staggering minority prospect in the State Legislature, and not a single statewide candidate gaining enough approval to get, or stay in office.

“The toughest thing was losing Senator Smith,” Over said of the state’s longtime Republican Senator that lost re-election to his Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley. “It was a loss for the Republican Party, and a loss for Oregon.”

But the GOP wasted very little time after the election before the discussion turned from what happened in the 2008 election to where the party will go from here.

On the national level, Mike Duncan, Newt Gingrigh, Mike Huckabee, and others are battling over who should be the party’s next national committee chairman. Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are jockeying for the frontrunner position in the 2012 presidential election. 

Over said that Republican focus on change at the national level will be a good first step to help the Republican Party in Oregon.

“The party needs to figure out who the leader needs to be,” Over said. “We need to take a step back to figure out how to go forward. But someone that would excite the party and bring the party together is part of that. They would need to focus on the core of the party, including fiscal policy, lower taxes, and efficient government.”

Oregon Republicans are faced with their own quandary as to how to rebuild their party in the state. And the Oregon conclusion is, focus on what conservatives, moderates, and independents can all agree on.

“Republicans will renew our perpetual fight over whether we lost because we're too conservative or not conservative enough,” former Republican labor commissioner Jack Roberts wrote in an op-ed that appeared in The Oregonian on Sunday. “Now that the Democrats' edge in Oregon voter registration, after narrowing for more than a decade, has ballooned back to a 240,000-vote margin, I personally have a hard time figuring out how driving anyone out helps us get more votes.”

“It seems to me that a better way is to reach out and try to include more people in our voting coalition. I'm convinced we can best do that by changing the tone and focus of our rhetoric, to emphasize practical problem-solving rather than divisive ideology.”

The change at the national level will certainly have to occur if local Republicans want to inspire and engage Oregon conservatives and the gigantic independent voting bloc in the state. Beyond that, Oregon Republicans are simply trying to refocus.

“As a party moving forward, we need to start talking about things that bring us together,” Over said. “Over the next couple years, fiscal responsibility will be huge.”

They are also preparing to recruit. At the end of the 2008 election, Democrats had a staggering 240,000 voter-registration edge in the state, much of it due to enthusiasm over Obama’s candidacy. Republicans know that future electoral successes will be dependent on cutting into that registration edge.

“Closing the registration gap is a huge challenge we have ahead of us,” Over said. “In Oregon, it’s going to be about growing the party. This next year is going to be focused on registering voters and reconnecting with Republican and independent voters.”

There were some bright spots for the party in 2008. The party picked up a seat in the state Senate after state Senator-elect Chris Telfer (R-Bend) won election to take over for outgoing State Sen. Ben Westlund, who won election to the state treasurer’s office. A couple state house incumbents held on in very close elections, meaning that House Republicans, who will be facing a super-minority status in the 2009 legislature, didn’t lose as much as they could have. Political newcomers Allen Alley and Rick Dancer gave their Democratic counterparts a run for their money in the state treasurer and secretary of state races, respectively.

“It was encouraging that we had two statewide candidates that seemed to do very well even for a tough year for Republicans in Oregon,” Over said. “It was the first campaign for each of them, and they brought a lot of energy and great ideas to the party.”

Over said it would be important to keep Dancer, Alley and Smith involved in the party as it regroups and looks toward 2010. Finally, as the party looks toward a wide-open gubernatorial candidate in 2010, they are also looking for new candidates to bring into the process. And just like Republicans on the national level, they are looking for someone to lead the way.

“The job that both Allen Alley and Rick Dancer did this year is a testament as to what someone with great ideas can bring to the race,” Over said. “Whether that someone comes from within or outside of the Party remains to be seen.”