Oregon Leader, a new chapter

Turning Oregon Conservative

For the last two years I was the Chair of the Marion County Republican Party. During this time I learned a lot about politics in Oregon and specifically the Oregon Republican Party.

I am grateful for the team that made my two years as Chair very successful. We set a very high bar for winning elections, raising money and registering Republicans.

In the last 2 years, Marion County GOP has raised the most ever for a two year period by more than double the next best total, 24k.  We helped defeat the Salem Payroll Tax. One of my personal favorites was stopping the 138m Silver Falls bond last year. Major boondoggle. In 2023, we went 19 for 21 in elections, flipping Woodburn and Silverton school boards and winning 2 of 3 in Salem. This year, we went 3 of 5 in Oregon House races. We added approximately 2000 Republicans to the rolls and hold a solid lead over the democrats in voter registration.  We also increased our outreach significantly, email postcards, etc. Overall, it was a successful two years.

In the end the PCPs of Marion County chose to go in a different direction with this year's election. I fully expect the new leadership to build on that success. We left behind the most funding even to transition leadership teams. An expanded communications infrastructure and an office in a prime location in central Salem. With these tools at their disposal, and their natural connections the PCPs of Marion County should expect nothing less than continued success.

That is however the past.

When I ran for Chair two years ago, I campaigned on improving communication and part of that was to do a podcast. The purpose of that podcast, called Marion Leader at the time, was to provide another avenue of communication the PCP's of Marion County. Overall it was a success.

Now that I am no longer constrained by being Chair, it is time to expand the scope of the podcast. That is one reason for the name change to Oregon Leader.

First a little history. Growing up in Michigan a nearby town had a local paper call the Oxford Leader. This small town paper focused on local and state issues, often breaking news stories that other larger papers refused to cover. It's from this example that first Marion Leader and now Oregon Leader is drawn.

She is not what she used to be

Oregon Leader will be a podcast devoted local and state issues from a conservative point of view. I look forward to this new chapter in my Oregon political life.

See you in the Arena.

Joel Pawloski, LTC(R)