BEND, OR -- With Oregon’s Primary now done, one political party holds its nominating convention this weekend, just outside Bend. The Constitution Party of Oregon always holds its convention on the fourth Saturday in May, immediately after the state primary. 

Party Chair Roger Shipman says it’s open to everyone, but only registered party members can nominate and vote at the convention, "We are accepting nominations for all races, from President down to dog catcher. We do have two presidential candidates, who will be there: Randall Terry and Joel Skousen. And we have two congressional candidates." Terry, who lives in Tennessee, founded the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in the 1980s, and led the group until 1991. Skousen, who lives in Utah but was raised in Oregon, is an author of survivalist books. "Probably, I will give the presidential candidates half an hour each and 20 minutes to the congressional ones," says Shipman, "But that depends on how many people there are, and how crazy, and how many other people look like they’re going to nominate other people and so on." 

He says party members have options, "We could nominate Randall Terry, Joel Skousen, Donald Trump or nobody." The winners at the convention will appear on Oregon’s November ballot.

While attendees must be registered with the Constitution Party of Oregon to nominate and vote, the candidates don’t, "We do ask all of our candidates to sign the statement of adherence to our core principles, which are to honor God, the family and to restore the Republic."

Saturday’s convention is at 2 p.m., at the Alfalfa Community Hall east of Bend. Typically, the party holds its convention in Springfield, OR. "But because this year we’ve done a much better job of getting the word out, I expect more and hope for more, and so we tried to make it more central," says Shipman. He's also pushing for a change to the party's bylaws, "That allows us to have multiple simultaneous conventions, so that people don’t have to drive so far." He adds, "So next time, it’s my hope that we can have five or six locations. For example, Baker City, Bend, Grants Pass, Eugene, Portland."