Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon's legislature is a deeper shade of blue today, with House Democrats making a number of strategic gains. April Baer caught up with some winners.

Democrat Toby Forsberg never made it to his own victory party last night. His five-year-old son swallowed  a nickel just as returns were coming in.

Toby Forsberg: "We took him to Kaiser Permanente right when my celebration was starting at my home, and they referred us to Doernbecher Children's Hospital because after X-ray they did find it wasn't moving, so we did have to go in for surgery last night."

If Forsberg wasn't nervous enough, his race against Republican Bill Kennemer for House District 39 was very close. 

Morning-after returns put Forsberg in the lead by about 800 votes. If the trend holds, he'll form part of a Democratic super majority in Salem.

House majority leader Dave Hunt says he thinks Oregonians will expect his party to take a centrist approach.

This weekend, House leaders will hold a caucus to hash out the power structure and discuss their priorities.