Oregon Faith Caucus Chair Running to Top State Party Job

Last updated on: August 16, 2012 at 3:17 pm by Eric Sapp

Oregon Faith Caucus Chair Running to Top State Party Job 2012-08-16T15:17:38-06:00 Eric Sapp

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Something exciting is happening in Oregon.

Something exciting is happening in Oregon. As many of you have read, the states that made a concerted effort at faith outreach last cycle generated some pretty remarkable results. They proved that Democrats can win over evangelicals and moderate Catholics, mobilize and energize our progressive faith base, and put forward a message and vision that inspires even the more secular voters in our Party. The question now is, "what's next, and what does the future hold?" Well, if the Democratic Party of Oregon (DPO) is any indication, the future is bright.

Some of you might be saying, "Oregon? Isn't that the least religious state in the nation? Why would they worry about winning over faith voters?" Well, I'm glad you asked. In this past cycle, Oregon demonstrated that even states that are not in the Bible Belt can benefit from reaching out to faith voters. Under the leadership of Mac Prichard, a long-time DPO strategist who also helped organize Oregon's uber-successful house party campaign in '04, Oregon created a robust faith outreach program this last cycle. The DNC was so impressed with the accomplishments of the state's all-volunteer effort that it provided funding to expand operations even further.

With Mac as chair, the state party's faith caucus encouraged every Democrat in the state to hold listening meetings with members of the faith community and hired a fulltime organizer to do faith outreach. The caucus also distributed voter guides to congregations and assisted several Democratic legislative candidates with strong personal faith narratives in running ads on Christian radio. These DPO efforts received a lot of positive attention in the Oregon faith community and contributed to the Democrats' reclaiming of the state House of Representatives.

Now Mac is running for Oregon Democratic Party Chair. Given his foresight and willingness to take a chance on championing this program back in early '05 when the success of such efforts was not quite so well documented, we should all be excited. He'd serve the state and party well. But what makes the situation in Oregon so remarkable is that one of his opponents, Meredith Wood Smith, was a cofounder of the DPO faith caucus and played a key role in its success, and another opponent, Carol Voisin, has a Th. D. in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union.

So no matter how things turn out, this will be a win for the DPO and for the state as a whole. Now let's hope other states will follow suit.

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