Report: Oregon GOP to choose presidential electors at convention instead of primary
Move, indicated by the New York Times, could impact court challenge to keep Trump off Oregon primary ballot
The New York Times reports the Oregon Republican Party will elect presidential nominating delegates via the state party’s convention to be held May 25, instead of in the state’s May 21 primary election. Such a move could be in reaction to a lawsuit by a handful of Oregonians assisted by Amherst, Massachusetts-based nonprofit People for Free Speech against Oregon Secretary of State Lavonne Griffin-Valade, asking the Oregon Supreme Court to force Griffin-Valade to keep Trump off the state’s primary ballot.
The NYT references the change, which I believe would be a first, in a rundown of states’ primaries:
I would very much like to confirm all this with someone from the Oregon GOP, and kind of received confirmation via Twitter from Oregon GOP national committee member Solomon Yue.
The law firm Yue references in his tweet is the one associated with Harmeet K. Dillhon, whose Twitter bio says she is a member of the Republican National Committee.
This is a developing story that arose as I was halfway into a piece about the Oregon Supreme Court case challenging Trump on primary ballot. Obviously, if Oregon GOP is not selecting presidential electors based on primary outcome, that would affect the case.
I haven’t seen this written up in Oregon media yet, so thought I’d do it.
UPDATE: Turns out Julia Shumway of the Oregon Capital Chronicle wrote an article about this, published at 2:17 pm l, just about same time I published, that says Oregon GOP says delegates selected at state convention will be bound by outcome of primary election. Link to Julia’s article: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/briefs/oregon-republican-delegates-must-back-winner-of-may-presidential-primary-party-says/
UPDATE 2 (7 am January 5): The Oregon Republican Party posted on Facebook the evening of January 4 the following, which says the party delegate selection process on May 25 is to choose delegates who will vote for the candidate primary voters select on May 21:
I’m a former County Chair and used to know people on the State Committee but that was decades ago. Wish I could help.
The primaries are a relic of the first progressive era, designed to close the "smoke filled rooms" of party bosses. (Which produced, among others, FDR). Most delegates picked in the primaries are "pledged" to a candidate--but I believe rules (as always, fungible) release them after the first, maybe second, round of voting in the national conventions.
This creates one of my favorite nightmare scenarios: Biden "wins" the various primaries but then does the Right Thing and drops out (for whatever reason) just prior to the convention. Deals are cut for pardons and a magnificent sendoff...and people in a non-smoking room get to work.