The newly minted head of the Oregon Republican Party, Suzanne Gallagher, made a recent tour to Eastern Oregon, and was pleased to meet a lot of like-minded people.

In Pendleton, Gallagher tried to push a message of positive, renewed energy for the party and a return to their basic principles of freedom. She said that big-tent approach will help the Republican Party rebound in the Beaver State.

Gallagher, 65, does not have plans to change the party stance on any controversial issue, but instead wants to invigorate young conservatives, those on the right side of the political spectrum who have lost touch with the party and women.

I am very pro-woman, said Gallagher, a business owner and former legislative candidate from Tigard. I think the Republican party has a lot to offer the female voter: safety, security, a well-functioning economy.

To court young people, Gallagher said she will look to bring a grassroots-led Rock Oregon campaign to college campuses across the state. She hopes to build the party from the ground up, starting with precinct leaders through local elections, all the way to the statehouse.

She wants to bridge the difference between more mainstream Republicans and those in the Tea Party. She thinks those differences arent as large as they are portrayed in the media anyway.

Most of us are very similar, she told the editorial board. Conservatives are conservatives.

While reinvigorating the electorate, Gallagher has to also keep an eye on the Republican platform in the Senate. She said the party has taken a strong stance against the proposed Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia, saying it could be built cheaper and be more effective if it did not include light rail.

She said the bridge is unbelievably expensive and there is no reason for it to be.

Republicans havent been in the drivers seat in Oregon for many years, but she says that can change. In fact, she said that if the number of registered Republicans turned out each election they would have the numbers to win just about every statewide race.

The success of Gallagher at the helm of the Oregon GOP will be measured by her ability to get those voters to the polls and to translate those votes into seats in the House, Senate and her biggest challenge the governors chair.