Oregon just got a little sunnier for Obama today. Five state senators and 19 state representatives endorsed Obama today, in addition to the state superintendent of schools and the state treasurer.
Full list of endorsers after the jump...
The full list of endorsers: Congressman Earl Blumenauer; State Treasurer Randall Edwards; Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo; Senate President Pro Tem Margaret Carter; Sen. Alan Bates; Sen. Floyd Prozanski; Sen. Ben Westlund; House Speaker Jeff Merkley; House Speaker Pro Tempore Diane Rosenbaum; Rep. Jeff Barker; Rep. Phil Barnhart; Rep. Suzanne Bonamici; Rep. Peter Buckley; Rep. Ben Cannon; Rep. Brian Clem; Rep. Chris Edwards; Rep. Dave Edwards; Rep. Larry Galizio; Rep. Paul Holvey; Rep. Betty Kimp; Rep. Tina Kotek; Rep. Mary Nolan; Rep. Tobias Read; Rep. Mike Schaufler; Rep. Chip Shields; Rep. Brad Witt
In addition, a story in the Oregonian talks about increases in Democratic registrations, including lots of fence-jumping from the Repubs.
Here's the money quote:
Between March 3 and 18, 4,249 Oregon voters jumped to the Democratic Party, according to the state Elections Division. Before, 2,506 of those had been nonaffiliated and 1,743 had been Republicans. By contrast, 211 Democrats have become Republicans, and 197 Democrats have dropped their party registration...
Dan Mahan, 43, a software engineer from Sherwood, said he changed his registration from Republican so he could vote for Obama. "It's a close race, and I want to support one candidate over the other."
Mahan, who said he voted for Democrat Al Gore in 2000 and did not vote in 2004, said he is likely to remain a Democrat and vote for the Democratic nominee in November.
Obama was also the reason that Ted Pimm, 82, a retired salesman and lifelong Republican from Tigard, switched to the Democrats. "He's the best I've seen," he said of the Illinois senator.
Pimm said he should have switched his registration "years ago. I haven't voted Republican for a long time."
"The sound you hear," Pimm added, "is my parents rolling over in their graves."
It's great news, and the trends are looking positive!
UPDATE: As many commentors have pointed out, the only Superdelegate in Oregon to endorse Obama so far is Congressman Earl Blumenauer, so this is not a new endorsement for him.
Thanks to Oreo for the updated list of OR supers who haven't endorsed yet:
Meredith Woods-Smith (OR)
Frank Dixon (OR)
Jenny Greenleaf (OR)
Wayne Kinney (OR)
Gail Rasmussen (OR)
Hon. Bill Bradbury (OR)
David Wu (OR)
Peter DeFazio (OR)
Ron Wyden (OR)
On a side note, Bill Clinton's visits to Oregon this week certainly did not pull in the level of crowds Obama got just 10 short days ago. He drew only about 500 people to the Portland event (Obama had over 13,000), about 1000 in Salem (Obama had over 3500), and just 3000 in Bend (Obama had over 10,000 in Eugene, and over 2500 in Medford).
We also have word that either the candidates or high-level surrogates will be in attendance at next weekend's OR State Democratic Party Platform Convention being held in Eugene.