The Oregon Republican Party won’t hold leadership elections until this weekend, but one outcome is already known: Justin Hwang, the party’s chair since 2022, won’t be in the winner’s circle

Hwang told OPB on Tuesday he is dropping out of a competitive reelection bid featuring five other candidates vying to be leader of the Oregon GOP.

“This was a difficult decision, but I believe it is the right one—for my future and for the party’s success in the upcoming elections,” Hwang wrote in an announcement he was preparing to send to party members. “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together.”

The sudden reversal comes after Hwang spent recent months angling for votes from members of the party’s central committee in order to secure another two-year term, and it might be seen as an admission he cannot prevail.

But in an interview, Hwang suggested a key reason is that, with President Donald Trump now in office, he has political prospects that are more enticing than leading the GOP.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls and opportunities that I can take,” Hwang said, referring to the possibility of an appointment at the “national level,” but not offering details. “I’m going to be going somewhere… I just cannot talk about that yet.”

With Hwang out of the running for the unpaid position, leadership of the Oregon Republican Party will fall to one of the five remaining candidates: Jerry Cummings, a pastor; frequent congressional candidate and current party secretary, Jo Rae Perkins; Gabriel Buehler, chair of the Washington County GOP; Angelita Sanchez, a city councilor in Sweet Home; and Ben Edtl, a recent state House candidate.

Republicans will elect a new party leader on Saturday. Under the party’s bylaws, the chair has the authority to call meetings, appoint members to party committees, hire and fire staff, and act as a liaison to the Oregon Secretary of State on the party’s behalf.

Hwang took the reins of the Oregon Republican Party in summer of 2022, after a period of notable instability.

In 2021, a trio of Republican state senators won election to the party’s executive board, with then-Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Myrtle Creek, toppling three-term chair Bill Currier.

But Heard’s time as chair was short-lived. A year into his term, he stepped down, complaining of “communist psychological warfare tactics” within the party.

In Heard’s place, party vice-chair Herman Baertschiger assumed the leadership role, but he stepped away after roughly three months. That elevated Hwang, who was the GOP’s vice-chair under Baertschiger. Hwang became the party’s first-ever Korean American leader.

His time atop the state GOP included some notable successes. In the November 2022 election, Republicans clawed back additional seats in the state House and Senate, and flipped a newly redrawn U.S. House seat, sending Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer to Washington, D.C.

Hwang argues he also made progress unifying a party that has been prone to infighting, though he acknowledged that much work remains. And he says he helped the party raise millions of dollars to support its candidates for federal and state office – not a given in Oregon where political donors are free to give state candidates unlimited funds without going through the party apparatus.

“We invested millions into supporting candidates and causes, ensuring we had the resources to compete,” Hwang wrote in his announcement to party members. “We led the largest party-building effort in recent history, funding voter outreach, mail programs, and—for the first time in over a decade—airing television ads for Oregon Republicans.”

Despite the accomplishments, the GOP remains marginalized in Oregon. In 2024, as Republicans surged nationally, the party lost seats in the state House and Senate and Chavez-DeRemer lost her reelection bid. The party currently holds no statewide elected office, and has super minority status in both legislative chambers.

Hwang on Tuesday acknowledged the losses, but pointed to a bright spot: Chavez-DeRemer appears likely to be named Trump’s labor secretary. She appeared before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

The owner of a chain of Portland area teriyaki restaurants, Hwang emigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when he was young, obtaining his citizenship in 2006. He ran for the state House in 2018 and the state Senate in 2020, losing both times to now-state Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale.

“I remain deeply committed to the Republican Party and the conservative movement in the Pacific Northwest,” Hwang wrote in his announcement. “As I navigate some exciting new chapters in my life—spending more time growing my business in Southwest Washington and throughout the region—I look forward to serving in new ways.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/19/oregon-gop-chair-wont-seek-reelection-after-all/