Oregon Public Broadcasting

The last few months have seen a dramatic shift in fundraising in the race to fill an open Oregon Congressional seat. April Baer reports on the spending for the 5th Congressional District.

The race to replace the retiring Darlene Hooley has been expensive, with $2.5 million spent so far. But the latest FEC filing shows the balance has changed.

Democrat Kurt Schrader left Republican Mike Erickson in the dust over the past three months,  outraising Erickson sixteen to one.

Maria Westfried  "Um. I'm not shocked."

That's Kurt Schrader's spokeswoman Maria Westfried.

Erickson was hit by ethics allegations during the primary. Since then, Schrader's picked up a lion's share of endorsements, from fellow politicians to community groups. But Westfried notes almost three weeks remain in the campaign.

Maria Westfried  "Anything could happen. From our understanding, he has quite a large personal fortune."

Erickson lent himself another $100,000 this quarter. After expenditures he ends the quarter with just over $40,000 cash on hand.