SHERWOOD, Oregon — Andy Duyck has seen his county’s political realignment decades in the making.
“We were a red state back then,” Duyck said at the county’s farmer bureau meeting in October 2024. “Washington County was Republican-based, fiscally conservative.”
“Very fiscally conservative,” agreed Farm Bureau member Brigetta Martel. “We did not spend our county government (funds). You could count on them not to spend more than what was brought in and to be careful with it.
“But now we have a lot of programs from the Portland mindset of entitling people to money if you are in any of these subgroups, and we’re getting out of balance.”
Washington County’s political shift mirrored larger trends across the state. Oregon is now a blue state, a sheer electoral lock for Democrats in the Pacific Northwest.
Duyck attributes part of the political shift to chip-manufacturer Intel, though it’s difficult to draw a direct line to Oregon’s political realignment.
Intel arrived in Washington County, Oregon, in the mid-1970s, when Oregon leaned conservative.
According to statewide electoral data, Republican president Gerald Ford won with 47.78% of the vote, a razor-thin victory over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter with roughly 46%.
The trend continued with President Ronald Reagan winning 48.33% of the vote in 1980 and 55.91% in 1984, according to the same data.
Oregon flipped to blue in the 1988 presidential election, with the majority voting for Michael Dukakis, as did neighboring state Washington, although California’s electoral votes went to George Bush Sr.
Oregon has stayed blue since the switch, according to statewide election results.
Growth and the rise of Portland
With Intel needing a massive workforce, Washington County saw exponential growth.
“We saw changes in our politics,” Duyck said. “So many people moved in … a lot from California.”
Martel recalled former Oregon governor Tom McCall’s famous 1971 tourism quote: “Come visit, but don’t stay.”
“They all stay,” she said.
Though Duyck cites Intel as a reason for the state’s political swing, University of Oregon political scientist Professor James Chandler says Oregon’s voting base has changed for many reasons.
Chandler said Portland’s rise as a “population and economic hub” influenced political changes.
“The rise of Portland has imported a lot of folks across the country who are maybe more progressive,” he said.
According to the 2023 Census, Portland’s estimated population is 630,498.
Oregon’s population increased by 25.9% from the 1970s to the 1980s, according to U.S. Census data. The second-highest jump in population was from the 1990s to the 00s—20.4%.
The rise of large cities has significantly influenced Democratic leanings across the state, according to the Pew Research Center.
The same data shows urban counties have also shifted further blue from 1996 to 2023 by two percentage points.
Oregon, Martel said, started morphing into a “California mindset.”
“For a long time, it didn’t affect our county government because we had people who were staying in it for a long time from the original population,” she said.
“Then, as they went out through retirement and everything else, we now have people in there who think very much like the Portland mindset, and we’re starting to sound a lot more like Multnomah County (where Portland is) than Washington County,” Martel said.
‘They’re not an agricultural county.”
New employers could shift demographics
Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers said communities have to be prepared for all the changes that come with economic growth.
“As much money as Intel brought in terms of economic development growth, you have to be prepared for what it looks like afterward,” he said.
He noted that Intel’s campus in Hillsboro is oriented toward research and development, rather than manufacturing like Intel’s Licking County facility will be.
“They bring in lots of folks from Southeast Asia and from Asia who have various dialects,” he explained. “The talent, we might think it’s down the block, but it’s not. It’s worldwide.
“So, the schools are faced with some new challenges.”
According to the 2024 Census Bureau, Asians comprise 11.7% of Hillsboro’s population. Census data also shows Hispanics or Latinos made up 25.9% of Hillsboro’s population.
Overall, Intel’s workforce is 41.7% white, 36.6% Asian, and 11.4% Hispanic/Latino, according to its website.
Rogers said that in one school district in Washington County, students speak 100 languages. Schools teach English as a Second Language and work through interpreters.
Washington County Commissioner Katheryn Herrington also noted the diversity.
“For some communities, they don’t think about the diversified workforce they may get,” she said.
“That means people from around the world. That means not only are they living there, but if you have parents who live in China or India, they may come and visit for up to six months at a time. So what are they going to do during the day in your community?
“They are going to go for walks, and how is the current flavor of your community going to react to people who may not look like them?”