Oregonians witnessed an exciting national election but settled for run-of-the-mill, Democrat-dominated outcomes in the statewide races on Tuesday.

That is the assessment of political scientist Jim Moore in his final election. After being interviewed over 8,000 times since 1991, Moore is retiring in January from election analysis and in May from the faculty at Pacific University. A specialist in election politics, he is associate professor of political science and director of political outreach for the Forest Grove university’s McCall Center for Civic Engagement.

I talked with Moore on Thursday. Election results are coming in, but he had lots to say about both major parties:

“National politics is going to be fascinating with its impact on Oregon because of our federal lands, because of issues with what do we do with species and our fisheries. Those kinds of things that were really not a part of any of the congressional campaigns.

“And then the story that nobody has been talking about: Oregon’s congressional delegation will be 83% women. That should have been at least front page on the political section news around the country.”

Nationally, the Republicans’ economic message swamped the Democrats’ democracy message. Defying expectations of a close race, former President Donald Trump rung up a resounding victory. Virtually every county moved to the right, including “deep blue” places in New York.

“It’s just wild to me, because the economy has never been better,” Moore said. “It’s almost like we forgot how to live with inflation.”

The Federal Reserve, which has more influence on the economy than a president does, on Thursday cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point as inflation continued to decline. 

The economy also was the key issue in Oregon. But, Moore said, “partisanship was driving a lot of things in terms of the way people voted here.” 

Oregonians filled three statewide offices with Democrats – Dan Rayfield as attorney general, Tobias Read as secretary of state and Elizabeth Steiner as state treasurer. However, none of the three got as many votes as Vice President Kamala Harris did in winning Oregon.

“And that tells me that there’s a Democratic Party that is not incredibly popular,” Moore said. “In this election, unlike several in the past 20 years, there was no sense of the Democrat, ‘When we’re elected, we’re going to do this. We’re going to take on climate change. We’re going to take on health care. There was no big agenda that people were really running on in this election.

“The Democrats have got to come up with those kinds of things and then follow through on them and get them passed in the Legislature and then implement them.”

Regardless of how much or how little money they spent, the Republican candidates’ statewide vote totals were in the low- to-mid 40% range, as is typical.

“Republicans at the statewide level still are in a world of hurt,” Moore said. ”They’ve got a solid foundation. That 40-to-45% is not nothing. But when the Democrats can all kind of get to the 50% range, how do you close that gap?”

Will Lathrop, who was running for attorney general, had been deemed the Republicans’ best hope. He hit 46% of the vote. 

To win, Moore said, Republicans must broaden their appeal.

“Even Lathrop, who did better than anybody else, his message about the AG was all, ‘Crime, crime, crime,’ which is not what the AG really does.

“You needed to be able to speak to Democrats and especially unaffiliated voters who are saying, ‘What about this other stuff? Consumer fraud is a big issue in my life. Protecting abortion is a big thing in my life,’” Moore said.

“You’ve got to have a Republican who like Vic Atiyeh said, ‘Abortion is wrong, but it’s the law of the state. And as such, it’s my job to make sure everybody has access to it, because that’s what the law says.’ You’ve got to have a Republican who will speak like that. And I don’t know that there are any Republicans who could do that anymore.”

Both parties had trumpeted opportunities to make gains in the Legislature. Yet little changed. 

Voters elected 75 legislators this year. Thirty-six candidates were unopposed, and only about 10 races were competitive, Moore said, “which is, from a democracy point of view, absolutely pathetic.”

Democrats did gain a supermajority in the Senate when Bend City Councilor Anthony Broadman handily won the seat held by former Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend.

That means Senate Democrats can pass tax increases without needing Republicans’ support. But, based on election results as Thursday afternoon, Democrats won’t have a supermajority in the House, where proposed tax increase must originate. House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich of Hood River was holding a 631-vole lead over Nick Walden Poublon, who was outspent more than 10-to-1.

And Republicans, if they believe Democrats are not playing fairly, still have the numbers in each chamber to stall the 2025 Legislature by walking out.