Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon will have a new U.S. Senator come January.  And after 12 years in office, a two-term incumbent Republican Gordon Smith will find himself back the private sector.

Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley declared victory over Republican Gordon Smith Thursday more than 36 hours after polls closed.

It’s the first time in 40 years that an incumbent U.S. Senator has lost an election in Oregon.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

Jeff Merkley wasn’t expected to win this race.  The Oregon House speaker had virtually zero statewide name recognition when he tossed his hat into the ring more than a year ago.  

He took on a well-funded veteran politician in Gordon Smith.  But on Tuesday, Democrats led by Barack Obama, rolled to widespread victories across the nation.  

At a victory rally in Portland Merkley told a crowd of supporters that the 2008 Election was a transforming experience.

Jeff Merkley:  “This transformation continues with the victory in this seat which puts 57 seats in a working majority that can work with Barack Obama to put this nation back on track.”

Merkley’s victory speech echoed a major campaign theme:  namely, that it was time for a change from the policies of the Bush administration.  During the campaign Merkley repeatedly painted Gordon Smith as voting in lockstep with the outgoing Republican President.

Jeff Merkley: “There are some who have argued over time that you create a strong economy by creating a few wealthy at the top, a few powerful special interests. And that maybe somehow the rest of us will get jobs as a result.  That philosophy has been tested this last eight years.  It has failed this nation, and it’s time to have a very different approach to empowering families and creating a stronger economy.”

Merkley pledged to get to work right away on issues like health care, global warming and the war in Iraq.  He’ll have a mentor in the form of fellow Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.

It will be the first time in 40 years for Oregon to have two Democrats serving in the U.S. Senate.  Even so, Wyden showed mixed emotions.

Smith and Wyden fought their own bruising campaign against each other back in 1996.  But as colleagues they worked together closely and even, Wyden says, became friends.

Ron Wyden:  “Certainly Gordon Smith can be a very tough politician.  But when the campaigns are over, there has always been an inherent decency.”

When Gordon Smith first won election to the Senate 12 years ago, he was seen as a very conservative Republican.  Over time he moved towards the center.  This year his ads went so far as to tout his work with Barack Obama.  But it wasn’t enough to convince voters to re-elect him in a year dominated by Democratic victories.

Still, Smith won a majority of votes in more than two-thirds of Oregon’s counties, including everything east of the Cascades. 

Speaking to reporters at his home in Pendleton, Smith said he hopes Merkley doesn’t forget about those rural voters when he gets to Washington.

Gordon Smith:  “These are the people who I felt a special responsibility for and they reflected it in how they voted, and my plea to the city is to remember that we need the country.  And my hope is that Oregon public officials will remember them in their future policy making.”

Smith said he has no plans to run for office again.  The next big political prize in Oregon will be the Governor’s race in two years.  For now, Smith says he’s going to lay low.

Gordon Smith: “I’m going to go back into private life and put on my boots and get back into the pea fields and help make the world a better place in a much more local way.”

Local for Smith means Pendleton.  The frozen food plant he owns is nearby.  As for Merkley, he says he wants to hit the ground running.

 Right after his victory speech Thursday he appeared alongside other Democrats at a press conference calling for more federal funding of roads and transit.