Gary Bray, the new Washington County Republican chairman, has sent out a provocative email to local GOP precinct officials that is raising eyebrows in Republican circles.



Bray, who has a Tualatin-based lumber wholesale business, equates the Democratic Party with communism and says that liberalism is an "atheistic cult."



Adds Bray:



Bray has long been known for his outspoken comments,

and in a book,

which he self-published in 2010.

Greg Leo, the chief of staff for the Oregon Republican Party, said Bray's remarks do not represent the views of the party or the GOP state central committee.

"We do not endorse or support what he is saying," said Leo. "Those are his beliefs, not the party's."

Some Republican precinct workers who received the missive said they were concerned that Bray's comments didn't help the GOP's effort to expand it's support in Washington County -- which has become more Democratic over the last decade.

Bray refused to talk with me about the email, saying I was biased. "I will talk to somebody else for The Oregonian," he said.

Here's the email -- which Bray says in the subject line is the "Report from the Chairman" -- in its entirety:

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