oregon politics

A quartet of independent candidates on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state will test voter appetites for a centrist "third way." They are experienced contenders running for state senate, Oregon governor or Washington Secretary of State. Unaffiliated candidates are popping up around the nation too, with a common theme of being fed up with a divisive two-party system.

2015 was an unusual year in Oregon politics, to say the least. For the first time in the state's 156 year history, a governor -- John Kitzhaber -- stepped…