GET INVOLVED

IPO is looking for people who want to:

Organize locally around issues in their community
Support legislative policy work of the party.
Support local candidates.
Form local chapters.

Please contact us through this web site to get involved.

FOR MEMBERS

7/14 NOMINATING CAUCUS

The Independent Party Nominating Caucus met on 7/14 to consider Partisan federal, statewide and state legislative offices. 29 candidates were nominated to represent the party in the 2024 General Election.

7/1 STATE COUNCIL UPDATE

IPO received 45 candidate applications for the party's 2024 nominating caucus and approved 45 candidates to participate in the caucus.

6/20 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met. The state council selected July 14th from 6 to 9 PM as the date of the first caucus meeting. The council agreed to review applications received by candidates by June 30th. The state council voted to endorse IP 14, related to an Independent Redistricting Petition and IP 19, related to final 5 voting for 2026. The council voted to take no action on a non-partisan race for Washington County Judge.

5/26 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met. The state council affirmed the results of the party's caucus vote. Dan Becker, Dan Meek, Andrew Kaza, Joan Horton, Linda Williams, Ken Smith, Travis Diskin, Ramsey McPhillips, Clay Bearnson, Michael Langley, Al Densmore were elected to serve on the party's 2024 nominating caucus. The state council approved posting of a draft 2025-27 platform based on the survey results which found majority support for adding planks on government efficiency and public safety. Sizeable majorities expressed concern that state and local governments are less effective at solving problems and the quality of life in Oregon is worse than a decade ago. The state council approved posting the timeline and candidate questionnaire for the 2024 election.

4/18 STATE COUNCL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met. The IPO State Council voted to endorse the Jackson County non-partisan county commission effort. The State Council voted to correct false public statements being made about IPO's positive experience with STAR voting in 2018 and to support the STAR voting effort in Lane County.

A reminder that IPO caucus elections will be held from 5/1-5/21. IPO members wishing to participate should contact the party through the web site form.

Caucus eligibility requirements:

Continuous IPO member for at least 1 year as of May 1, 2024 and at least one of the following:
50 hours of approved volunteer service on IPO issues (legislative issues, running for office, holding chapter meetings, etc.)
Hold local elected office of school board, city council, mayor or county commissioner.
Lifetime contributions exceeding $1000 or more.

3/11 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council cted on the endorsement request received for non-partisan races in the May Primary. The state council voted to endorse Phil Chang for Deschutes County Commissioner.

2/8 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met and selected to continue using the same caucus nomination process from previous elections. The dates for caucus election will be contemperaneous with the distribution of the state voters' pamphlet and May Primary Election. The state council will vote on any non-partisan endorsement requests for the May Primary Ballot.

Caucus eligibility requirements:

Continuous IPO member for at least 1 year as of May 1, 2024 and at least one of the following:
50 hours of approved volunteer service on IPO issues (legislative issues, running for office, holding chapter meetings, etc.)
Hold local elected office of school board, city council, mayor or county commissioner.
Lifetime contributions exceeding $1000 or more.

12/13 STATE COUNCIL ELECTION AND MEMBER SURVEY

Joan Horton was elected to a 5 year term on the IPO State Council, position 4 in the election conducted December 6-12.

11/2/2023 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met and discussed scheduling IPO officer election for State Council Position 4 and the member survey.

IPO ELECTION NOTICE

The Independent Party of Oregon will conduct an Election to fill one positions on the 5-person State Council. The election will be held on December 6th - December 12th. The term for the position 4 is 5 years. The election and survey will be conducted using the approval voting method.

ELIGIBILITY
All Independent Party members who are registered with the party on or before November 30, 2022, are eligible to vote in the election.

A candidate for the State Council must have been a member of the party for at least 1 year as of Nov 30th, and must have:

volunteered at least 40 hours in party-related activities, such as serving on the nominating caucus or organizing local meetings, during the previous 4 years;
maintained an active local chapter of IPO for at least one year; or
held elective office for at least 1 year contemporaneous with 1 year of IPO membership, while also working at least 20 volunteer hours for IPO during the previous 2 years.

IPO members wishing to run for State Council should fill out the form below. Be prepared to provide a brief statement about yourself and your interest in serving as well as a recent photo similar to one you might find in a voters’ pamphlet.

State Council Nomination Form

5/5/2023 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met. Officers received an update on legislative matters including campaign finance form and election reform; non-partisan races. Agreed to schedule next meeting in fall.

3/27/2023 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met and deliberated school board and special election endorsements. It was agreed to table discussion of races. The state council endorsed a request to support SB 542, Right to Repair law. It affirmed previous positions about campaign finance reform, including concerns raised by coalition partners that lengthy 2022 negotiations were not reflected in the HB 2003 for campaign finance reform. The party will submit testimony in favor of electoral fusion.

2/23/2023 STATE COUNCIL MEETING

A quorum of the state council met and ratified the results of the IPO State Council election and member survey. It was agreed a committee would recommend updates to the platform to affirm member support for electoral fusion and current implementation status of the Portland charter amendment.

2/7/2023 THE IPO ELECTION AND MEMBER SURVEY IS COMPLETE

Linda Williams and Dan Meek were re-elected to the state council. The positions will be announced after the result is ratified at the next meeting of the state council.

Top performing legislative issues:

- Campaign finance reform, reducing the undue influence of money in politics 71.9%

- Passing election reforms that strengthen the rights of third parties like the Independent Party of Oregon 71.9%

- Passing election reforms to strengthen the rights of Independent and non-affiliated voters 69.4%

- Working to reduce homelessness through improved access to housing and mental health care 60.0%

- Passing legislation to better address mental health and addiction in Oregon. 59.4%

2/1/2023 IPO ELECTION AND MEMBER SURVEY HAS BEGUN

Two candidates, Linda Williams and Dan Meek, have filed for two positions. The top vote getter will be elected to position 3 and have a term of 5 years. The second place vote getter will be elected to position 2 and have a term of 4 years.

1/3/2023 NOTICE OF OFFICER ELECTION

The Independent Party of Oregon will conduct an Election to fill two positions on the 5-person State Council. The election will be held on February 1st - February 7th. The term for the position 2 is 4 years. The term for position 3 is 5 years. The election and survey will be conducted using the approval voting method.

ELIGIBILITY
All Independent Party members who are registered with the party on or before November 30, 2022, are eligible to vote in the election.

A candidate for the State Council must have been a member of the party for at least 1 year as of Nov 30th, and must have:

volunteered at least 40 hours in party-related activities, such as serving on the nominating caucus or organizing local meetings, during the previous 4 years;
maintained an active local chapter of IPO for at least one year; or
held elective office for at least 1 year contemporaneous with 1 year of IPO membership, while also working at least 20 volunteer hours for IPO during the previous 2 years.

State Council Nomination Form

1/3/2023 - STATE COUNCIL ELECTION

The IPO State Council met on 1/3 and voted to hold state council elections for state council position 2 and position 3 from February 1-7 (note: These elections were held over from 2022).

11/23 - LOCAL SPECIAL ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS

A quorum of the Independent Party State Council met on 11/22 and recommended to endorse Casey Banks (District 2), Jefferson Mildenberger, (District 4) and Stephanie Findley (District 6) in the City of Newberg Special Election.

IPO Statement on the Newberg City Council Race

8/22 - 2022 GENERAL ELECTION IPO LOCAL AND NON-PARTISAN ENDORSEMENTS

A quorum of Independent Party of Oregon State Caucus met on 8/21 and voted to endorse Christina Stephenson for Labor Commissioner, Morgan Schmidt for Deschutes County Commissioner, Beth Wytoski for Yamhill County Commissioner, Clay Bearnson for Medford City Council, Sal Peralta for McMinnville City Council.

8/6 - IPO WILL NOT NOMINATE FOR GOVERNOR IN 2022

Please read the party's official statement.

7/17 - STATE AND FEDERAL CAUCUS RESULTS

The 2022 state and federal caucus met to review candidate applications. 51 candidates were nominated. Results were posted on the IPO web site 7/18 and winners were emailed 7/19.

7/5/2022 - STATE COUNCIL ANNOUNCES CAUCUS UPDATE

The State Council has voted to move the date of the 2022 state legislative and federal caucuses to the week of July 17th to give the caucus members more time to review candidate applications.

6/23/2022 NOTICE OF 2022 LOCAL CAUCUS RESULTS

A quorum of the Independent Party's local nominating caucus met via Zoom. The Caucus nominated Al Densmore to Jackson County Commissioner. The Caucus will meet on July 11 to discuss state legislative and federal races. The caucus agreed to meet in August to consider local endorsements at a date tbd (8/21).

6/7/22 NOTICE OF PLATFORM AND STATE CAUCUS RESULTS

The Independent Party of Oregon has ratified its 2022-24 platform and elected its 2022 nominating caucus for federal, state legislative and partisan local races: Linda Williams, Dan Becker Dan Meek Andrew Kaza, Ken Smith, Clay Bearnson, Travis Diskin, Joan Horton. Ramsey McPhillips, Michael Langley (alternate).

5/9/22 NOTICE OF PLATFORM RATIFICATION AND STATE CAUCUS ELECTION

The Independent Party of Oregon will conduct its platform ratification and elect members to its state caucus. The party is seeking candidates to fill 15 positions on the party's 2022 state nominating caucus. This selection of caucus members will be held by member vote, May 31 - June 6th.

View the draft platform here: https://www.indparty.com/2022-2024-draft-platform

Proposed Caucus Schedule (posted so applicants understand time commitment)

June 23, 7-9 pm, Zoom - Introduction and local caucus
July 11th and 12th, 7-10 pm, Zoom - Partisan caucuses

Eligibility requirements:

Continuous IPO member for at least 1 year as of June 1, 2022 and at least one of the following:
50 hours of approved volunteer service on IPO issues (legislative issues, running for office, holding chapter meetings, etc.)
Hold local elected office of school board, city council, mayor or county commissioner.
Lifetime contributions exceeding $1000 or more.

All IPO members registered by May 1, 2022* will be eligible to vote for candidates to serve on the caucus. The vote will be held from June 16th - June 31st. Contact info at indparty dot com for more information.

*corrected type, 5/31/

12/1/21 STATE COUNCIL ELECTION

Independent Party members have selected Ken Smith to fill a vacant seat on the Independent Party State Council.

11/10/21 NOTICE OF MEMBER SURVEY AND OFFICER ELECTION

The Independent Party of Oregon will conduct an Election to fill a position on the 5-person State Council. The election will be held on November 26th - November 30th. The term for the position is 4 years. The election and survey will be conducted using the approval voting method.

ELIGIBILITY
All Independent Party members who are registered with the party on or before September 30, 2021, are eligible to vote in the election.

A candidate for the State Council must have been a member of the party for at least 1 year as of Sept 30th, and must have:

volunteered at least 40 hours in party-related activities, such as serving on the nominating caucus or organizing local meetings, during the previous 4 years;
maintained an active local chapter of IPO for at least one year; or
held elective office for at least 1 year contemporaneous with 1 year of IPO membership, while also working at least 20 volunteer hours for IPO during the previous 2 years.

IPO members wishing to run for State Council should fill out the form below. Be prepared to include a brief statement about yourself and your interest in serving as well as a recent photo similar to one you might find in a voters’ pamphlet. The deadline to apply is November 24th, 2021

>> Click here to apply <<

1/27/21 The IPO State Council appointed Kristin Eberhard of Portland to fill a vacancy in position 4 on the state council.

7/25/20 The IPO State Council has nominated one member to fill a vacancy on the state caucus

Clay Bearnson

7/8/20 The IPO State Council has nominated two members to fill vacancies on the state caucus.

Adam Khosroabadi

Alex Tardif

6/29/20 Nominating Caucus Results: The following members were elected to the nominating caucus.

Chris Henry Chris Telfer Dan Becker

Dan Meek Drew Kaza Joan Horton

LInda Williams Ken Smith Rob Harris

Sal Peralta Travis Diskin

6/8/20 Member update: 2020 IPO Nominating Caucus

The Independent Party of Oregon is seeking eligible members to serve on our party's 2020 nominating caucus.

Eligibility requirements:

Continuous IPO member for at least 1 year as of June 1, 2020 and at least one of the following:
50 hours of approved volunteer service on IPO issues (legislative issues, running for office, holding chapter meetings, etc.)
Hold local elected office of school board, city council, mayor or county commissioner.
Lifetime contributions exceeding $1000 or more.

All IPO members registered by June 1, 2020 will be eligible to vote for candidates to serve on the caucus. The vote will be held from June 16th - June 31st. Contact info at indparty dot com for more information.

5/28/20 Member update: Election results final tally.

2020 IPO Election results official Click here for results.

5/19/20 Member update: Election complete, preliminary results.

Biden wins Presidential preference poll, Thatcher, Henry lead for SOS. Merkley, Rosenblum unopposed for US Senate and AG.