The blue wave that rolled across the country Tuesday didn’t miss Deschutes County.

In fact, the results of this year’s Board of County Commissioners races amounted to a Democratic sweep. When the new board takes office in January, all five seats will be held by Democrats — a seismic shift from the current commission, which has two Republicans and one Democrat.

Morgan Schmidt and Amy Sabbadini , both Democrats, secured victories Tuesday on the newly-expanded commission. They will join Phil Chang, the lone Democrat on the current board, as well as Rick Russell and Jamie Collins , who won their seats in May.

The results mark a dramatic change for a region that has historically leaned Republican. But the political transformation didn’t happen overnight.

According to Deschutes County voter registration data, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by more than 8,600 in 2006. By January 2020, the two parties were virtually tied.…