Editing Benton County, Oregon (section)

==Politics and government==
For a long time, Benton County strongly favored the Republican Party due to its significant [[Yankee]] influence. In the 1932 presidential election, it was the only county in the state to vote for [[Herbert Hoover]] instead of FDR. Along with [[Riverside County, California|Riverside County]] in California, it was one of only two counties in the [[Pacific States]] to be held by Hoover that year. As late as 1960,<ref>Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; [http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1960&fips=41&f=1&off=0&elect=0 1960 Presidential General Election Data Graphs – Oregon by County]</ref> Benton was the most Republican county in the traditionally Republican state of Oregon, which at that point had never supported a Democrat other than [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]] for president, except for 1912 when the Republican Party was divided and a very narrow victory in 1868. Up to 1984, Benton County had voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only four times, in the above-mentioned 1868 election plus the national Democratic landslides of 1912, 1936, and 1964. In 1964, [[Lyndon Johnson]] became the first Democrat to win an absolute majority of the county's vote since [[Horatio Seymour]].<ref>Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004'', pp. 284–286 {{ISBN|0786422173}}</ref>

The Republican edge in the county narrowed from the 1970s onward, culminating when it swung from a five-point victory for [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984 to a nine-point victory for [[Michael Dukakis]] in 1988. Since then, Benton County has become a strongly Democratic county, and is usually the second-strongest Democratic bastion in the state, behind only Multnomah County (Portland). This is largely due to the leanings of Oregon State's student body and staff, closely tracking with Democratic gains in other counties influenced by college towns. No Republican has come within nine percentage points of carrying Benton County since 1988, and [[Barack Obama]], [[Hillary Clinton]], and [[Joe Biden]] have won the county by over thirty percentage points during each of the last four presidential elections. Overall, Benton County is a reliable state bellwether, having voted for Oregon's statewide winner in every presidential election since 1948, along with [[Hood River County]].

Since 1972, Benton County has been a [[County government in the United States|home rule county]], meaning that the citizens have full control over the [[list of counties in Oregon|county charter]], rather than using a standard charter issued by the state.<ref name="bbcounty">{{Cite web |title=County Government in Oregon |url=https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/local/counties/about.aspx |access-date=December 11, 2013 |publisher=Oregon Blue Book}}</ref> The voters have chosen to eliminate the traditional elected county offices of [[County assessor|Assessor]], [[County Treasurer|Treasurer]], [[County surveyor|Surveyor]], [[Justice of the Peace]], and [[County clerk|Clerk]]. Currently, they only elect three [[County commission|County Commissioners]] and a [[County Sheriff|Sheriff]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tollenaar and Associates |title=COUNTY HOME RULE IN OREGON |url=http://www.co.coos.or.us/Portals/0/LinkClick.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214010554/http://www.co.coos.or.us/Portals/0/LinkClick.pdf |archive-date=December 14, 2013 |access-date=December 11, 2013 |publisher=[[Association of Oregon Counties]]}}</ref><ref name="charter">{{Cite web |title=Benton County Charter |url=http://www.co.benton.or.us/boc/documents/county_charter_2003.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720084200/http://www.co.benton.or.us/boc/documents/county_charter_2003.pdf |archive-date=July 20, 2012 |access-date=December 11, 2013 |publisher=Benton County Oregon}}</ref>

The three current Benton County Commissioners are Chair Pat Malone, Xanthippe Augerot, and Nancy Wyse. They are all members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and have served since 2019, 2017, and 2021; respectively. Wyse and Augerot's current terms expire in January 2025, while Malone's is up in January 2023.<ref name="charter" /><ref name="commish">{{Cite web |title=Benton County Board of Commissioners Office |url=http://www.co.benton.or.us/boc |access-date=August 5, 2020 |publisher=Benton County, Oregon}}</ref><ref name="bbbenton">{{Cite web |title=Benton County |url=https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/local/counties/benton.aspx |access-date=June 23, 2017 |publisher=[[Oregon Blue Book]]}}</ref>

The current [[County Sheriff|Benton County Sheriff]] is Jef Van Arsdall. He was appointed to the office in March 2021 to fill the remainder of the term of retiring sheriff Scott Jackson.<ref>[https://www.co.benton.or.us/sheriff/page/benton-county-sheriff-jef-van-arsdall Benton County Sheriff's Office]. Retrieved August 4, 2021.</ref>

Benton County is currently one of 11 counties in Oregon in which therapeutic psilocybin is legal.

{{PresHead|place=Benton County, Oregon|whig=no|source1=<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leip |first=David |title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS |access-date=April 11, 2018 |website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|14,187|33,909|2,136|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|14,878|35,827|2,094|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|13,445|29,193|6,115|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|14,991|27,776|2,035|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|15,264|29,901|1,313|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|18,460|26,515|760|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|15,825|19,444|2,957|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|12,450|17,211|4,839|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|11,550|17,966|8,407|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|14,004|16,930|676|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|17,836|16,073|153|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|14,982|13,150|6,375|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|15,555|11,887|1,865|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|14,906|10,842|708|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|11,654|6,538|824|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|7,250|8,971|265|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|9,734|5,391|0|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|9,016|4,214|0|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|9,229|2,966|67|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|6,839|3,135|355|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|5,242|2,830|69|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|5,089|2,942|48|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,390|3,547|486|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|4,068|3,121|244|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|4,605|1,412|78|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|3,417|1,579|635|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,752|1,719|192|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|2,902|2,488|332|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|715|986|906|Oregon}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,183|773|157|Oregon}}
{{PresFoot|1904|Republican|1,107|442|222|Oregon}}