U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, the Democratic incumbent of the 6th Congressional District, is graduated from the Emerge Oregon, which trains women Democrats to run for office. (Courtesy of Andie Petkus Photography)
Democratic U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas won reelection to Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, the Associated Press said Friday evening.
Not all votes have been counted, but Salinas has continued to maintain a wide lead since the first results were released on Tuesday evening. By Friday evening, she had 53% of the vote compared with nearly 47% for Mike Erickson, a Republican businessman, giving her an 18,000-vote advantage.
The outcome marks an easier victory for Salinas than her 2022 match against Erickson in the newly created district. She beat him by 2.4 percentage points then, compared with 6 points this time.
She declared victory late Tuesday, saying she promises to work for all Oregonians. Erickson told the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday there were too many ballots left to count in regions of the district where he has strong support. The district stretches across Polk and Yamhill counties and includes urban Salem, the southwestern suburbs of Portland and portions of Marion, Clackamas and Washington counties.
Erickson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening, after the AP call.
Salinas, a former state legislator, was frequently out and about in her district, meeting with constituents and gathering specialists together to discuss behavioral health and other issues.
During the campaign, she touted her record in Congress, including bills to increase the behavioral health workforce and programs. Salinas also managed to get one bill in the Republican-controlled House passed and signed into law that restores the right of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to pursue land claims and compensation.
Erickson, who runs a Tigard logistics company, stressed the need to reduce inflation and improve the economy.
Salinas is currently one of the first two Oregon Latinas elected to Congress but next year, she’s poised to be alone. The Republican now representing Oregon’s 5th District, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is also a Latina, but she’s on track to lose her district. The AP hasn’t called that race yet, but on Friday, her Democratic challenger, state Rep. Janelle Bynum, declared victory.
And Democratic incumbent Val Hoyle, has won her reelection bid in the 4th District against Republican challenger Monique DeSpain.
All three districts were closely monitored by national Democrats and Republicans and attracted tens of millions of dollars in contributions.
The red wave that’s washed across Washington D.C. in this election – with Republican Donald Trump easily winning another term and Republicans flipping the Senate – was not the trend in Oregon, which remained blue, with Democrats again elected attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. Democrats have also won a supermajority in the state Senate but it’s not yet clear that they’ve won the required three-fifths of the vote in the state House. Having a supermajority allows a party to pass new taxes without any support from the other side.
In Congress, Oregon is likely to only have one Republican, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who won as expected in a landslide over Democrat Dan Ruby.
Reporter Ben Botkin contributed to this story.
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