Oregon Democrats Commit to Outreach, Engagement With Non-Affiliated Voters Ahead of 2026 Elections

Portland, OR -The Democratic Party of Oregon voted Sunday at its quarterly State Central Committee meeting to direct resources to encourage non-affiliated voters who support Democratic candidates to re-register as Democrats in order to vote in its primary elections and promote greater outreach to those voters as a key component of its 2026 strategy.

"We've had great success already in our efforts to re-register non-affiliated voters as Democrats," DPO Chair Nathan Soltz said. "This decision by Party leaders reflects our commitment to party-building and our intention to increase the diversity in our party's membership."

Over the past few months, the DPO has engaged non-affiliated voters through texting, phone calls, and in-person outreach. Soltz said this data-driven approach has already paid dividends in increasing Democratic registration.

"I'm proud to say that we've been doing the work to make our big tent party even bigger," Soltz said. "We're reaching out to non-affiliated voters in a smart, targeted way. We've found in these conversations that many non-affiliated voters actually already identified as Democrats and were happy to update their registration to reflect their support."

The Democratic Party of Oregon - through its party identity groups known as "caucuses" - plans to double down on those efforts to increase the diversity of those who participate in Democratic processes. The immigrant community, communities of color, people with disabilities, rural voters, young people, and seniors are among those most impacted by current policy debates. Oregon Democrats are prioritizing outreach to non-affiliated voters in these communities to re-register as Democrats and strengthen their representation within the party and in government, Soltz said.

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