As Ore. GOP Searches for Relevance, Fresh Faces Emerge

By JULIA SILVERMAN  / Associated Press

(excerpt) The kind of post-partisan ideal, most often voiced on the national campaign trail by Barack Obama, is echoed by John Nelsen, a Reynolds school board chair who is hoping to hang onto the seat Karen Minnis held for years, even in a district with a 9-point Democratic voter registration edge. He jokes that while it may be a difficult year to be a Republican in Oregon, it’s been a difficult lifetime to be a Republican in liberal Multnomah County. And yet he’s survived.

"I am really tired of the rancor between the parties," Nelsen said. "I’m setting up (get-to-know-you) coffees now, and virtually every one is at the home of a Democrat."

Choosing to run as a Republican, Nelsen said, was a vote of faith in a value system he holds dear, from small government to the power of the free market. Of Minnis, his well-known predecessor whose race in 2006 was the most expensive state House race in Oregon history, he says they have "style differences. But I would be a fool not to take advantage of her experience, knowledge, and wisdom," on the campaign trail.

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