Jeff Merkley '82 still in tight race

Oregon Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley GS ’82 (D-Ore.) was running neck-and-neck with incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) as of 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. The razor-thin race did not have a projected winner at time of publication.

Though many national political experts predicted a victory for the Wilson School graduate in the days and weeks leading up to the election, with roughly 72 percent of the precincts reporting, the two-term incumbent led Merkley by about 6,000 votes. Both candidates had roughly 47 percent of the vote, with Constitutional Party candidate David Brownlow at 6 percent, according to The Oregonian.

Both candidates told supporters that the winner would not be known until sometime Wednesday at the earliest. Oregon is the only state in the country in which all citizens can vote by mail-in ballot.

Smith faced an uphill battle during the election season, the nominee of a party that had suffered steep losses in Oregon and around the country over the last few years. As Democrats looked to expand their majority in the Senate, the Oregon race drew national interest and became the most expensive political campaign in the state’s history. Merkley and Smith together spent more than $20 million on television ads.

The state is one of several where Democrats hoped to pick up a seat in their quest for a filibuster-proof 60 seats. Democrats picked up seats in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado. Republicans were able to fend off strong challenges in Kentucky and Mississippi. Races in Georgia, Minnesota and Alaska were too close to call at press time.