That means Democrats will control four of Oregon’s six U.S. House seats. Salinas and Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who won the 5th Congressional District race, will be Oregon’s first two Latinas in Congress. In all, Oregon will send four women to the House. The near-final results gathered at 5:30 p.m. on Monday showed Salinas leading by 6,300 votes, leading Erickson 50% to 47.6%. With her victory, Salinas defied the doubts of national pundits who were increasingly questioning whether she could win the district, once considered a safe Democratic seat. But Republicans still appeared on track Monday to regain control of the US House from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her party, albeit narrowly. A Republican victory in the 6th District would be a major blow to Salinas, who has led her party’s effort to redraw Oregon’s congressional district lines in 2021. The map she helped create was one that Democrats and political experts said it would likely result in Democrats winning five of six districts, including her own. But Democrats didn’t hit that mark after Chavez-DeRemer won the 5th District. OREGON 2022 ELECTIONS:Live Score Page | Election page Oregon’s first new congressional district in 40 years, the 6th District stretches from the southwest suburbs of Portland to Salem, with most voters in Marion and Washington counties. Political observers considered Oregon’s 6th and 5th district races among the closest in the nation for the U.S. House this year. The 4th District, where Democratic Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle narrowly beat Republican Alec Scarlato, was also seen as competitive, but less so. The Cook Political Report rated the 6th District a tossup this fall. But Salinas benefited from outside Democratic groups, which poured $5.7 million into the race to boost Salinas, according to the nonpartisan election organization Open Secrets. Republican groups spent only $1.2 million to boost Erickson. Erickson loaned his campaign more than $2.4 million, which allowed him to surpass Salinas in total fundraising. As of mid-October, Erickson had reported raising $3.47 million compared to $2.87 million raised by Salinas, according to the Federal Election Commission. A former Democratic congressional aide and lobbyist, Salinas was elected to represent Lake Oswego in the Oregon House in 2017. She is committed to building on her progressive record in the Legislature and working to pass a national minimum wage increase, increase child care funding and prioritize climate policies in Congress. She ran on her record in Salem, where she helped pass a 2019 landmark law giving workers 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave annually. Salinas also sponsored laws that would extend overtime to farmers and require the state’s largest utilities to provide 100 percent clean energy by 2040. On the campaign trail, Erickson characterized Salinas as unrelenting in her support for criminal justice reforms and blamed her for homeless encampments in Portland, even though Portland is outside her legislative district. Erickson founded shipping consulting firm AFMS Logistics Management Group in 1992. He said his background would make him well-positioned as a member of Congress to address supply chain woes that contribute to inflation. He also said he would support veterans and prioritize more funding for local police departments in response to the “lawlessness” he said had gripped Oregon. Salinas and Democrats have aired ads calling Erickson a hypocrite for his tough-on-crime stances because of his 2016 DUI arrest. They also criticized his past support for abortion restrictions because he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in 2001. Erickson claimed he gave the woman $300 and drove her to a Portland medical clinic, but did not know she was having an abortion. Erickson said in an interview in October that states should decide their own abortion policies and that the procedure should be allowed in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother. Salinas opposes abortion restrictions. —Grant Stringer. [email protected]; 503-307-3591; @Stringerjourno To sign up to receive our weekly newsroom newsletter recapping our top election coverage, just click here.
