Twelve Counties: Oregon Democrats Break With Their Own Party Over IP28

Nearly a third of Oregon's county Democratic parties have passed formal resolutions opposing IP28. This is the most underreported story in the campaign.

Editor’s Note: A reader correctly pointed out that the graphic framing on this post was inaccurate. Oregon Democrats — from Governor Kotek to all 37 House Democrats to Senator Broadman here in Bend — oppose IP28. Twelve rural county party resolutions opposing it are not a break from their party. They are consistent with it. The underlying story this piece was reaching for is different and more important: how does a measure with zero support from any elected official in Oregon — Democrat or Republican — collect 138,000 signatures through a paid campaign funded largely from outside the state? That question is answered in the next piece.

Update — June 29, 2026: The count has grown significantly. As of June 29, 16 Oregon county Democratic parties have formally passed resolutions opposing IP28 — up from 12 at time of publication. New additions include Benton, Clatsop, and Coos counties. Source: Joel Byron Barker, Chair, Jefferson County Democratic Party. The complete updated list will appear in a follow-up piece.

THE IP28 FILES — PART 9
Twelve Counties: Oregon Democrats Break With Their Own Party Over IP28

The IP28 Files is a primary source investigation into Initiative Petition 28. Start with Part 1 at johnpayson1.substack.com. 7 days until the July 2 signature deadline.

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THE STORY NOBODY IS COVERING

The narrative around IP28 has been simple from the beginning: liberal Portland activists versus conservative rural Oregon. Urban versus rural. Democrat versus Republican.

That narrative is wrong. And the primary source documentation proving it wrong has been sitting in county party meeting minutes across Eastern and Southern Oregon for months.

Twelve Oregon county Democratic parties have passed formal resolutions opposing IP28. Not individual Democrats. Not Democratic voters. Organized Democratic Party bodies — precinct committee persons, party chairs, elected party officials — voting in their official capacity to formally oppose a measure backed by Portland-based activists.

Twelve counties. Nearly a third of all county Democratic parties in Oregon. Most votes unanimous. No county resolution has failed.

This is the most underreported story in the IP28 campaign. Today it gets documented.

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THE COMPLETE LIST — PRIMARY SOURCES

The following Oregon county Democratic parties have passed formal resolutions opposing IP28 as of June 25, 2026. Source: Joel Byron Barker, Jefferson County Democratic precinct committee person, Substack: Old Truck Good Coffee.

Baker County
Crook County
Grant County
Jefferson County
Josephine County
Klamath County
Malheur County
Polk County
Umatilla County
Union County
Wallowa County
Wasco County

Coos County is scheduled to vote imminently. If it passes, that will be thirteen counties — more than a third of all Oregon county Democratic parties on record opposing IP28.

Look at that map. Baker. Grant. Malheur. Klamath. Wallowa. Wasco. Union. These are not Portland suburbs. These are Eastern and Southern Oregon counties where Democrats live alongside Republicans in the same ranching communities, the same fishing towns, the same agricultural economies.

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WHAT THESE RESOLUTIONS ACTUALLY SAY

The Crook County Democratic Party’s resolution — adopted unanimously on May 12, 2026 — is the most thoroughly documented. It is worth reading directly because it says what every rural Oregonian already knows.

The Crook County Democrats found that IP28 would criminalize standard agricultural and husbandry practices, effectively ending animal-based food production in Oregon and turning farmers and ranchers into criminals. They found that IP28 reclassifies routine veterinary and breeding practices — including artificial insemination — as animal sexual assault, subjecting professionals to felony charges. They found that over one million Oregonians who hunt or fish annually would be unable to do so if IP28 passes. And they found that IP28 would defund the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife by removing license-fee revenue that provides 45 to 55 percent of the agency’s budget.

Their resolution calls for more balanced, practical approaches to animal welfare instead of a measure that would criminalize essential practices.

That is not a Republican talking point. That is the Democratic Party of Crook County, Oregon. Adopted unanimously.

Sources: Crook County Democrats IP28 Resolution | KTVZ Coverage May 19, 2026 | Jefferson County Democrats Resolution

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WHY THIS MATTERS

IP28’s proponents need Portland and Eugene to carry the measure on the November ballot. They need Multnomah, Lane, and Washington counties to outvote the rest of Oregon.

What they did not anticipate is that the Democratic Party infrastructure in rural Oregon would formally organize against them. Precinct committee persons are not casual observers. They are the people who knock doors, make phone calls, and turn out Democratic voters in their counties. When they pass a resolution opposing IP28, they are committing their organizational energy to defeating it.

Joel Byron Barker — Jefferson County Democratic precinct committee person and publisher of Old Truck Good Coffee on Substack — put it plainly: in Jefferson County, he and his fellow PCPs are organizing to stop IP28. The resolution is not symbolic. It directs the party body to work together on what they have agreed upon.

Twelve county parties directing their organizing infrastructure against IP28. Before the measure has even qualified for the ballot.

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THE BIPARTISAN RECORD — COMPLETE

For the record, here is every documented opposition position across both parties:

Republican opposition on record: Sen. David Brock Smith (R-SD1), Rep. Darcey Edwards (R-HD31), former Gov. candidate Christine Drazan (R).

Democratic opposition on record: Sen. Anthony Broadman (D-SD27, Bend), Gov. Tina Kotek (D).

Democratic Party organization opposition: 12 county Democratic parties — Baker, Crook, Grant, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Malheur, Polk, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco.

Still silent: Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR2), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-HD59), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR1).

The silence from Merkley and Bonamici is now the story within the story. Twelve county Democratic parties in their own state have formally broken with the activist agenda behind IP28. Neither of Oregon’s U.S. Senators has said a word.

Jeff Merkley is running for his fourth term this November. His own party’s county organizations in a third of Oregon’s counties have gone on record opposing a measure that would destroy rural Oregon. He has said nothing.

That is a choice. And Oregon voters are entitled to know it.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

IP28 proponents submitted their signatures before the July 2 deadline. The Oregon Elections Division will now use statistical sampling to match signatures against voter registration records — verifying against duplicates, non-registered signers, and people who have moved out of state. The final verification deadline is August 2, 2026.

If IP28 survives verification and qualifies for the November ballot, the bipartisan opposition already documented in this series becomes the foundation of the campaign to defeat it. Twelve county Democratic parties. A sitting Democratic governor. A Bend Democrat senator. A twenty-year large animal veterinarian running for Congress. Oregon’s Farm Bureau. The Oregon Hunters Association. The Coastal Conservation Association of Oregon.

They are all on record. They organized before the measure even qualified.

The people behind IP28 said from the beginning that 2026 is just the opening move.

So is this.

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This is Part 9 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources:
Crook County Democrats IP28 Resolution — crookcodems.org
KTVZ — Crook County Democrats Oppose IP28, May 19 2026
Jefferson County Democrats Resolution — jeffcodemsoregon.org
Joel Byron Barker — Old Truck Good Coffee, Substack
Sportsmen’s Alliance — IP28 Signature Submission Update

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com