OREGON, USA — Oregon’s newest U.S. House district has chosen its first Representative. Democrat Andrea Salinas will win the race for the state's 6th Congressional District, defeating Republican Mike Erickson.
Both The Oregonian and the Associated Press called the race on Monday evening after the latest results showed Salinas with a lead of around 6,000 votes. Washington and Marion counties both added most of their remaining ballots to the results Monday afternoon.
Salinas has held a narrow lead since the first results were posted late on election night, but the race remained too close to call last week and became the last of Oregon’s six U.S. House races without a projected winner after Republican Lori Chavez-Deremer secured a win over Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the state’s 5th District on Friday.
"My dad came to the United States from Mexico in 1950 and worked in the fields picking cotton and tomatoes before he was in the first grade," Salinas said in a statement following the race call Monday night. "It's my family's story that made me believe change is possible in a single generation — but only if we work for it. I can’t promise that change will come easily. But I can promise that, no matter who you voted for or what lies ahead, I will be your champion — always. It’s the honor of my lifetime to be your Congresswoman-elect.”
Oregon’s other four U.S. House races reached projected winners quickly; Incumbent Democrats Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer both won by large margins in their own races, as did Republican incumbent Cliff Bentz. Democrat Val Hoyle emerged as the projected winner over Republican Alek Skarlatos in Oregon’s 4th District, although by a much narrower margin.
Salinas’ victory leaves Oregon with four of its U.S. House seats in the hands of Democrats and two held by Republicans.
Last week’s election was the first for Oregon’s 6th District, which was created after the 2020 Census handed Oregon an additional congressional seat due to the state’s growth over the preceding decade.
The state’s redistricting process began as a bipartisan endeavor, but ended with the dissolution of the redistricting coalition as Republicans accused the Democrats of gerrymandering. Ultimately the maps were approved and adopted by the legislature and Gov. Kate Brown; redrawing district boundaries and creating the new 6th District in an area around the city of Salem, extending north and west.
Democrats were heavily favored to win the seat due to past voting trends for the area, which Joe Biden won by 14 percentage points in 2020, according to Politico. But, as with a number of races in Oregon this year, polling closer to Election Day showed Democrats in a dead heat or falling behind their Republican opponents.