Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and nestled in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other founders had family connections. It officially became a town with the name Ashland Mills in 1855. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 19,522. It is the home of Southern Oregon University and the nationally renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Ashland is also remarkable for being very politically liberal. It gave the hypermajority of its vote to Democrat John F. Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. This potentially makes it more Democratic than Portland, and more Democratic than any other city in Oregon and neighbouring Washington outside of Seattle, Washington, which cast 80.61% for Kerry compared to Ashland's 80.60%.