Oregon Public Broadcasting

The only Republican U.S. Senator on the West Coast has lost his job. Oregon incumbent Gordon Smith has gone down to defeat in an upset.

Democrat Jeff Merkley declared victory Thursday morning. Correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

The Oregon U.S. Senate race is over.  

It was too close to call on election night.  But after another day of counting votes, it was clear that Jeff Merkley narrowly unseated two-term incumbent Gordon Smith.  

Merkley says Smith called him this morning to congratulate him.  The Oregon House Speaker gave a victory speech at Portland State University where he pledged to move past the divisiveness of the campaign.

Jeff Merkley: “Because these issues that we’re talking about, these issues are the same whether you live in rural Oregon or urban Oregon, whether you have an “R” after your name or a “D” after your name.”

Merkley is the first candidate to unseat an incumbent U.S. Senator from Oregon since Wayne Morse lost to Bob Packwood 40 years ago.

This year’s race was the most expensive in Oregon history.  Merkley’s victory gives Democrats 57 seats in the U.S. Senate.