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Oregon is infamous for its history of racist progressivism. In 1922, left-wing Democrat [[Walter M. Pierce]] ran for governor with the backing of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] against anti-KKK Republican governor [[Benjamin W. Olcott]] and won the general election.<ref name=oregonkkk>[https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/ku_klux_klan/ Ku Klux Klan]. ''Oregon Encyclopedia''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref> The Klan and their allies, including Pierce, in that election cycle pushed for a ballot measure to ban [[school choice]] in the state by forcing all children to [[public school]]s rather than letting parents decide between government and parochial institutions.<ref name=waltermpierceoregoncyclopediabio>Robbins, William G. [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pierce_walter_1861_1954_/ Walter Pierce (1861-1954)]. ''Oregon Encyclopedia''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref>

Oregon is infamous for its history of racist progressivism. In 1922, left-wing Democrat [[Walter M. Pierce]] ran for governor with the backing of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] against anti-KKK Republican governor [[Benjamin W. Olcott]] and won the general election.<ref name=oregonkkk>[https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/ku_klux_klan/ Ku Klux Klan]. ''Oregon Encyclopedia''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref> The Klan and their allies, including Pierce, in that election cycle pushed for a ballot measure to ban [[school choice]] in the state by forcing all children to [[public school]]s rather than letting parents decide between government and parochial institutions.<ref name=waltermpierceoregoncyclopediabio>Robbins, William G. [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pierce_walter_1861_1954_/ Walter Pierce (1861-1954)]. ''Oregon Encyclopedia''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref>

Pierce lost re-election in 1926 and was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a staunch liberal [[New Deal]]er.<ref name=waltermpierceoregoncyclopediabio/> When [[World War II]] broke out, he adamantly supported – like most progressives – President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s mass internment of Japanese-Americans by race. Pierce also voted against [[anti-lynching legislation]].

Pierce lost re-election in 1926 and was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a staunch liberal [[New Deal]]er.<ref name=waltermpierceoregoncyclopediabio/> When [[World War II]] broke out, he adamantly supported – like most progressives – President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s mass internment of Japanese-Americans by race.<ref>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww2/Pages/after-back.aspx A Mixed Reception: Japanese Americans Return to Oregon]. ''Oregon Secretary of State''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref> Pierce also voted against [[anti-lynching legislation]] in 1940.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/76-3/h96 TO PASS H.R. 801, A BILL TO MAKE LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref>

Although the KKK held a significant influence in Oregon for the first half of the 1920s, moral scandals and hypocrisy surrounding their leadership costed them membership; by the 1930s, the statewide organization collapsed as only local groups remained.<ref name=oregonkkk/>

Although the KKK held a significant influence in Oregon for the first half of the 1920s, moral scandals and hypocrisy surrounding their leadership costed them membership; by the 1930s, the statewide organization collapsed as only local groups remained.<ref name=oregonkkk/>