Clash in the States.

Can progressive nonprofits match their conservative rivals?

Many people think of Oregon as a liberal bastion: an "ecotopia" where environmental protection is a priority, the law permits the terminally ill to choose death over protracted suffering, and citizens once voted by initiative for the highest state minimum wage in the country.

But in fact, conservatives have quite a foothold in Oregon. Republicans took over the state legislature in 1994, and it has belonged to them since, thanks to heavy campaign spending. Additionally, term limits have deprived Oregon of ...