On November 2, the Oregon Independent Party nominee for State Representative, 48th district, polled 42.71% of the vote in a two-person race against the incumbent Democrat. The Independent Party nominee was Jeff Caton, a professional financial planner. Although Oregon permits fusion, Caton was not the nominee of any party other than the Independent Party.

The 48th district includes part of Clackamas County and part of Multnomah County. Caton carried the part of the district in Clackamas County.

This was the closest a minor party had come to electing anyone to federal or state office in Oregon since at least 1932. No one other than Democratic or Republican nominees has been elected to the Oregon legislature since 1920. There have been two Oregon independent state legislators in recent years, but they were not elected as independents. Instead they were elected as major party nominees and then once elected had changed their registration to “independent.” Also, U.S. Senator Wayne Morse was elected as a Republican in 1950, but then changed his registration to “Independent”, but when he had to run for re-election in 1956, he changed again, to the Democratic Party, and was re-elected as a Democrat.

The Independent Party of Oregon has existed since 2006. In 2010, it held a mail primary election for itself, at its own expense, to choose its nominees.