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November 09. 2014 12:01AM Our View: Dems should take it slow in Salem Oregon Democrats can't be blamed for celebrating a little after they not only held on to their control of the Legislature but added to their majorities in both the House and the Senate. But legislative leaders should be wary of letting that power go to their heads. Heading into the 2014 campaign, Republicans appeared poised to pick off a seat or two in the Senate, maybe resulting in a 15-15 tie or even a slim GOP majority. Sen. Alan Bates, D-Oregon, was considered the most vulnerable, having held onto his seat in 2010 by fewer than 300 votes against Republican Dave Dotterrer, who was back for a second try. Bates not only beat Dotterrer again, and by a much more comfortable margin, but Sen. Betsy Close, R-Albany, lost her seat to Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, boosting the Democrats' total to 17 seats. The breakdown could be 18-12 If Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, loses his re-election bid; that race was still too far close to call Friday. That would give the Democrats a three-fifths majority in the Senate, enough to push through tax increases without a single Republican vote. In the House, it appeared at week's end that the Democrats will remain one vote shy of a supermajority in that chamber. That means Democratic priorities will be back on the table, including green-energy initiatives and the clean-fuels bill that failed in the last session. There will be considerable pressure from interest groups for the majority party to flex its new muscle.  We wouldn't be unhappy to see some bills pass that Republicans have succeeded in blocking, such as reasonable background checks on private gun sales. But there is little sense in running roughshod over the minority party, and considerable danger for Democrats if they do. House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, told The Associated Press that, "If the Democrats continue to move to the left and are high-jacked by the extreme, then they will be rejected by the voters in the next election." Oregon may be a blue state, but its voters are not staunch partisans. The state's biggest problem remains its sluggish economy and a lack of good jobs, especially outside the Willamette Valley. Sweeping initiatives that spend state resources without addressing that won't sit well with the electorate. Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, who won re-election despite being targeted by the Republicans, clearly understands that.  "All kinds of expectations will be out there," Courtney told the Statesman-Journal,  "and we have to be careful not to overreach." The rest of the legislative majority should heed that advice.       http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141109/OPINION/141109704 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->