Oregon Independent Party

Secretary of State Bill BradburyThe Oregon Independent Party and Secretary of State Bill Bradbury are headed to court to resolve their differences on how many parties can be listed next to a candidate’s name on the ballot, according to Oregon Independent Party Secretary Sal Peralta.

"We had hoped that the Secretary of State's Elections Division would recognize their mistake, correct it, and allow us to move on," Peralta said Tuesday.  "The opinion of our legal advisors is that the state's actions are inconsistent with Oregon law, and we need the court to step in and make a determination."

The Independent Party of Oregon announced it nominated Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo) for State Treasurer Monday.

The Independent Party released a statement Friday morning saying that 1st Congressional District candidate Joel Haugen (R-Scappoose) should not have to give up his Republican nomination to take up the Independent nomination, and that both parties should be listed on the ballot next to his name.

Congressional candidate Joel Haugen (R): Campaign photoThe Oregon Independent Party announced Wednesday that it will be nominating Joel Haugen (R-Scappoose) for Congress in Oregon's 1st Congressional District.

The cross-nominations have led to several electoral questions as to how Haugen and other candidates must appear on the ballot. According to the Secretary of State, Haugen's name can only appear on the ballot once. If he does take up the Independent Party nomination, he will have to drop the Republican nomination, thus clearing the way for CD-1 Republicans to nominate a new congressional candidate

Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) received the Oregon Independent Party’s nomination on Thursday morning.

`independent' in this race," said Linda Williams, state chair of the Independent Party.  "Gordon Smith is very dependent - dependent on the utilities, drug companies, and other corporations for the millions of dollars he is spending on ads denying his record as a Bush Administration rubber stamp.”

The Oregon Independent Party, which was founded in January 2007, has over 22,000 members, making it the third largest political party in Oregon.