Oregon GOP in turmoil after embattled chair resigns over 'deeply troubling' allegations

Even before California became deep blue during the 1990s, its neighbor to the north, Oregon, was leaning Democratic. President George H.W. Bush won California in the 1988 presidential election, but he lost Oregon to Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis by roughly 5 percent.

Nonetheless, some rural areas of Oregon still lean GOP, and the Oregon Republican Party performs well in some rural areas of the state — especially those near Idaho. But the Oregon GOP is experiencing some turbulence following the resignation of its former chairman, the Rev. Jerry Cummings, on Wednesday, April 9. With Cummings' resignation, former Oregon Vice Chair Connie Whelchel took over the position.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reporter Dirk VanderHart, Cummings resigned "amid revelations of ongoing personal financial woes and troubling allegations from a 16-year-old divorce."

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VanderHart reports, "The quick fall from party influence comes less than two months into Cummings' tenure atop the Oregon GOP. It follows a story from the Oregon Journalism Project on Tuesday, (April 8) that detailed a litany of court proceedings that cast him in a negative light. One of those is a 2009 divorce case that contains allegations Cummings' ex-wife used to obtain a restraining order against him."

Cummings' ex-wife, according to follows, accused him of violence — an allegation the former Oregon GOP chairman flatly denies.

"More recent legal troubles involve two 2024 civil filings that call Cummings' fiscal responsibility into question," VanderHart explains. "One case suggests he deposited invalid checks at OnPoint Community Credit Union, then withdrew more than $17,000 that didn’t actually exist. The other accuses Cummings of taking out $93,000 in business loans that he failed to make payments on."

The OPB reporter adds, "The financial cases present a significant concern for a person at the helm of a political party. Cummings’ responsibilities as GOP chair included fundraising, and donors were unlikely to trust him with their checks after the lawsuits came to light."

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Whelchel is describing the allegations against Cummings as "deeply troubling."

In an official statement, Whelchel said, "These revelations were not known to the Executive Committee or Party leadership prior to their publication, and they are in no way reflective of the values or standards we hold While these developments are deeply unfortunate, they will not derail our mission."

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Read the full Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) article at this link.