SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s Democratic lawmakers will fall short of winning enough state legislative seats to prevent Republicans from staging walkouts that have halted action at the Capitol in recent years.
Following the unofficial results of the 2020 election, Oregon Democrats are predicted to hold onto their three-fifths supermajority in the state Senate and House.
However, the party did not pick up enough seats to expand to a quorum-proof majority, which would prevent work from ceasing in the Capitol if Republicans leave Salem again.
“It looks to me like the Democrats performed almost exactly as expected but not quite up to their hopes,” said Christopher McKnight Nichols, an associate professor at Oregon State University’s School of History, Philosophy, and Religion. “Republicans held just enough seats to not become functionally irrelevant in Salem.”
Democratic lawmakers easily won in reliably blue areas such as Portland and comfortably held onto seats in the suburbs.
