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Republicans Eye Pickups In State Legislatures; Northwest Impact Unclear

File photo of the Senate Chamber at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Oregon.
Cacophony
/
Wikimedia
File photo of the Senate Chamber at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Oregon.

Republican strategists are eyeing state legislatures this year in hopes of taking more control of the legislative process.

File photo of the Senate Chamber at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Oregon.
Credit Cacophony / Wikimedia
/
Wikimedia
File photo of the Senate Chamber at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Oregon.

But political analysts don't expect major changes in Northwest statehouses.

In Oregon, Democrats control both the House and the Senate. Republicans are eyeing the state Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow edge. The fate of the chamber lies in the hands of voters in a few key districts.

Pacific University political analyst Jim Moore doesn't think the GOP will have an easy time taking the lead in the Oregon Senate. But he says lower voter turnout in a non-presidential election year could work to the Republicans' advantage.

"And the lower voter turnout, especially on the West Coast, tends to mean that the proportion of Republicans is higher than it is during a presidential election," says Moore.

Meanwhile in Olympia, the Washington House is expected to remain in the hands of Democrats. The state Senate is in the toss-up category. Currently, a mostly Republican coalition holds a two-seat advantage.

Republicans control both the House and the Senate in 26 states, including Idaho.

Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.