David Brock Smith wins GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Oregon

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Portland, Ore. — David Brock Smith won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Oregon on Friday, setting up a November matchup against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeff Merkley, the last significant race to be called after Oregon’s May 19 primary election. Smith’s victory came in the contest to replace himself as a state senator while challenging Merkley, who has held the seat since 2008.

Smith, who previously ran as a state senator, emerged from a field of seven Republican candidates. Oregon voters will now have a Republican nominee who is set to take on the Democrat incumbent in what the Associated Press reported as the generally safe-seat context for Merkley, given Oregon’s recent history.

Merkley is viewed as having a generally safe seat because Oregon has not elected a Republican U.S. senator since 2002, even as he first took office in 2008. The AP said Merkley’s campaign did not immediately respond Friday evening to a request for comment about Smith’s win.

In a statement after the result, Smith framed the campaign around Oregon’s needs, saying, “This campaign is about putting Oregon first. Fighting for affordable living, safer communities, good-paying jobs, responsible government, and protecting the values that make our beloved state strong.” He added, “This election is bigger than politics. It’s about restoring hope, opportunity, and accountability for every Oregonian.”

The AP described the Senate result as following other high-profile Oregon contests called earlier, including a gas tax referendum and the Republican primary for governor. In the referendum, voters rejected a ballot measure that asked whether to raise Oregon’s state gas tax by 6 cents to 46 cents a gallon, a proposal backed after the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a gas tax increase and fees intended to address roads and a transportation budget gap.

Republicans hailed the referendum rejection, while Democrats remained mostly quiet and did not organize efforts to campaign for the measure, as prices at the pump rose amid the Iran war. The AP said some party members had expected the gas tax to be defeated in the run-up to the primary.

In the governor’s race, Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan advanced from 14 candidates to win her primary, defeating rivals that included another GOP legislator who helped lead the gas tax referendum campaign and a former NBA player. Her victory sets up a November rematch with Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, who won her party’s primary as she seeks reelection.

The AP said Drazan lost to Kotek in 2022 by more than 3 percentage points in a three-way race that also included an independent candidate. It described Kotek, who took office in 2023 after years in the Legislature including as the state’s longest-serving House speaker, as having sparred with the Trump administration after the federal government sought to deploy the National Guard to Portland last fall to protect federal property and personnel following protests at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

On other down-ballot races, the AP said Democratic incumbent Rep. Janelle Bynum won her primary in Oregon’s lone competitive U.S. House district, while Patti Adair, a county commissioner, won the GOP primary there. The AP reported that Adair will seek to win back the seat for Republicans, noting the GOP had flipped the district in 2022 for the first time in decades before Bynum reclaimed it for Democrats.