Ballots arrive in Gresham... and so does a request from the Oregon Republican Party

Just a little while ago I went out to the mailbox to see if our mail had come. I open the box, and to my delight our ballots had arrived. Sometimes we're lucky enough to get ours on the first day, but more often than not they arrive on Saturday instead.

But to my surprise, what else arrived in the mail? A letter from the Oregon Republican Party addressed to our family. Now, my husband has been a registered Republican, but recently switched parties so he could vote for Steve Novick in the primary (he's planning to go non-affiliated after the primary). But I've always been a registered Democrat. There is another voter registered in our household (my sister, who has a different last name), and she was not addressed on this letter - she is a Democrat. Apparently they think that the husband controls the vote in the family?

Since it was addressed to both of us instead of just my husband, I opened it.

It reads as follows (I had to type this in because the OCR on my scanner isn't working correctly... I tried to type it exactly as written, including grammatical errors):

Dear Fellow Republican,

As I am sure you are aware since you recently received your ballot, there is no candidate standing for the Republican nomination in State Senate District 25. Without a candidate, the Democrat incumbent will be uncontested and assured a lock on the seat in November.

As Chair of the Oregon Republican Party, I am writing to you today to make sure that does not happen. You have the power to place a Republican on the ballot. I ask that you write in - Dave Kim - for the Republican Nomination.

Dave Kin is a successful businessman who is very involved in the community. He has served on a school board and on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce. As you state Senator he will take that same spirit of service to Salem. Dave believes that government should serve its citizens, not the other way around.

Below in this letter you will find detailed instructions on how to write in Dave Kim, Republican, for Senate District 25. Please help make sure we have a choice in November. We have a great candidate but now we need your help!

Best regards,

Vance Day
Chairman
Oregon Republican Party

Underneath the text is a picture of what it would look like on the ballot, with the oval filled in and the name written in. You can view a PDF scan of the entire letter here.

I'm so very glad we waited until the very last moment to change my husband's registration (I dropped off his registration card Monday night at county elections). Had we done this earlier this year, we wouldn't have received this letter.

I wonder how many other districts this is happening in across Oregon? How many seats do we think are safe and uncontested, but will actually end up with a Republican challenger this November?

I must say, it's been a pretty interesting week around here when it comes to the mailbox. First there was the Sho Dozono mailer that arrived here in Gresham. Now the letter from the Oregon Republican Party. I can't wait to see what arrives next.

Technorati Tags: 2008 election Oregon