The Oregon Republican Party did not gather enough signatures by Monday's deadline to recall Gov. Kate Brown — its second failed recall of the governor in less than a year.
"It's gut-wrenching to deliver this news," Oregon GOP Chair Bill Currier said over a Facebook livestream to supporters. "But we will prevail. I am confident that the people's will will be upheld in the end."
Republicans have accused Brown of abusing her power and destroying the state's economy through shutdowns imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The governor has stated shutdowns were in keeping with the advice of public health experts and were intended to save lives.
For the recall to proceed, the state GOP needed to gather and submit 280,050 valid signatures to the Secretary of State's office by Aug. 31 — 90 days from when the recall effort was initiated.
Currier said their campaign gathered 277,254 signatures, just short of the required number. They would not submit any signatures to the Secretary of State's office.
Most signature-gathering efforts submit many thousands more signatures than the required number to ensure they've gathered enough signatures that can be verified by elections officials.
A campaign to recall a sitting governor has never gathered enough signatures to proceed in the process, in part because the number of signatures needed is so high.
The Oregon GOP also did not gather enough signatures for its recall that ended in October 2019. At the time they blamed concurrent recall petitions confusing voters and did not submit any signatures for verification.
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On Monday, Currier said the absence of state and county fairs — canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic — deprived signature-gatherers of reliable opportunities to gather thousands of additional signatures.
He also blamed recent policy changes enacted by the Legislature that restricted the use of electronic signature sheets.
In a statement following the announcement, Thomas Wheatley, an advisor to Brown, noted the governor won her election two years ago by more than 100,000 votes and that the recall attempt was a distraction.
"This recall attempt was just the latest political ploy to divert attention away from Trump’s floundering presidency by pitting Oregonians against each other," Wheatley said. "But the people of Oregon are smarter than that."
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Despite not being able to move forward with a recall, state political analysts say the Republican party might have garnered other benefits through the signature-gathering effort.
Jim Moore, a political science professor at Pacific University, said the efforts of supporters gathering signatures over the past three months helped raise the party's visibility, which could be important with three statewide races on the ballot this November.
It also allowed Republicans to show themselves as an active party, at least in opposition.
"It’s a nice baseline for Republicans as they’re looking at the elections coming up," Moore said.
But it's unclear is if the party's efforts only succeeded in promoting its image among voters beyond its base. Because of their registration disadvantage, statewide Republican candidates need broader appeal to achieve victory.
“This shows that they stand for getting rid of Kate Brown, but what do they want to do in a positive way?" Moore said.
Republicans constitute about 25 percent of registered voters in the state, while Democrats make up 35 percent and nonaffiliated voters make up 33 percent.
Bill Lunch, political science professor emeritus at Oregon State University, said the party also better positioned itself to mobilize voters this fall.
Signers of the petition showed they, at the very least, have concerns with how Brown is leading the state. Now that contact information for them has been collected by the GOP, Lunch said those voters could be targeted and encouraged to vote for Republican candidates.
The party could also contact these voters with requests for political contributions.
While those secondary goals are important, Lunch said, the reality of two failed recall attempts by the Oregon Republican Party in less than a year also will stick out in voters' minds.
“It just shows how weak they are," Lunch said.
Reporter Connor Radnovich covers the Oregon Legislature and state government. Contact him at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.
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