This is a statistical backgrounder that examines the changes in Oregon's electorate between October, 2007 and May, 2008.

The data used here came from copies of the Oregon voter file dated October 17, 2007 and May 24, 2008.

The most significant information is that Oregon added approximately 147,000 new voters to the rolls, and that approximately 72,000 voters changed political parties during the 7 month period described here.

The Democratic Party, driven by new voter registrations and a massive shift in Republican and non-affiliated voters, was the big winner with a net gain of 130,000 new members.

The newly formed Independent Party of Oregon was a distant second, as the only other political party to grow, adding approximately 15,000 new members during the 7-month period.

Here is the breakdown:

New Registrants, October through May

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Democrats 76,041 51.5%
Non-affiliated 32,996 22.4%
Republicans 27,079 18.4%
Independent 9,725 6.6%
Libertarian 958 0.06%
Green 628 0.04%
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147,427 100%

Changes in party registration

Net gain/loss: Democrats added +34,562 former non-affiliateds
Net gain/loss: Democrats added +19,512 former Republicans
Net gain/loss: Independents added + 2,825 former non-affiliateds
Net gain/loss: Independents added + 1856 former Republicans
Net gain/loss: Republicans added + 1,058 former Non-affiliateds
Net gain/loss: Independents added + 835 former Democrats