Left: U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. Right: Oregon state Sen. David Brock Smith. Merkley has served in Congress for nearly 18 years and faces challenger state Sen. David Brock Smith.
Courtesy of the campaigns
For a period last year, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley was considering retiring from Congress, spurring rumors that Oregon could see its first open Senate seat in 30 years.
But the longtime Democrat says President Trump’s decisions — courting billionaires, appointing loyalists and federalizing the National Guard among them — prevented him from walking away.
“Our Republic’s in deep trouble,” Merkley, a Democrat who turns 70 this month, said in an interview with OPB. “And we’re not sure we can keep it.”
Congressional Democrats throughout the country are facing pressure to make way for a crop of candidates who want to chart a new course for the party. Not in Oregon. Merkley eased through the May primary without a major Democratic challenge. He’s seeking another term amid political gridlock in Congress and a president who routinely tests the bounds of his executive authority.
Merkley, who has served in Congress for nearly 18 years, faces a challenge from state Sen. David Brock Smith. The Port Orford Republican is trying to become Oregon’s first Republican U.S. Senator since Merkley ousted Gordon Smith in 2008.
Merkley has outraised Brock Smith this cycle, with $4.5 million in campaign contributions to the state senator’s roughly $120,000, according to federal filings as of June 30. Midterm elections seldom go well for the party in power, and pollsters are predicting Democrats like Merkley will sail to victory. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election forecaster, lists the Senate race as “solid Democrat.”
Despite those headwinds, Brock Smith believes the high taxes gripping Oregonians, coupled with the overall soaring cost of living, will generate support from voters frustrated with the state’s Democratic leaders.
“As I travel around the state and talk to individuals, they’re not seeing the return on their investment,” Brock Smith said, adding: “One party rule in Oregon has put us last in almost all metrics across the country.”
Gary Lyndon Dye, the Libertarian party candidate, and Chris Henry, of the Pacific Green and Progressive parties, are also running.
FILE - Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., right, speaks during the Senate Democrat policy luncheon news conference at the Capitol, in May.
Rod Lamkey / AP
Merkley is honing his campaign messaging on President Trump, saying voters should choose him to push back against the president and his wealthy allies. Taken together, he said the president’s moves amount to “a series of strategies that an authoritarian uses to unravel a democracy.”
“I looked at all that and said, ‘Wow, this man really is the biggest threat to our constitution and our separation of power since the Civil War,’” Merkley said. “And I cannot describe this and lay it out to people and emphasize the danger and then say, ‘But good luck. I’m walking away from the fight.’”
Merkley touted his efforts to bring drought relief to farmers and keep a U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter in Newport. But he says his work remains unfinished, from the fight against dark money in politics to the ongoing effort to overhaul the filibuster.
Polls suggest some Senate seats could flip from red to blue. If Democrats regain control of the chamber, Merkley would be well-positioned to become the chair of the Senate Budget Committee.
Should that happen, Merkley said he would use his power to slim the country’s mounting debt, which he blames in part on the ongoing war in Iran and the decades-long Afghanistan war. To do so, he wants to hone in on wasteful defense spending and reverse Republican-backed tax breaks that he sees as disproportionately benefitting the wealthy.
“This century is going to belong to the nations that invest the most in education and infrastructure, not the ones that dribble away their national wealth in foreign wars and foreign military bases,” Merkley said.
FILE - Republican Sen. David Brock Smith speaks at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., in 2023.
Amanda Loman / AP
Brock Smith, a 50-year-old who has served in a variety of civic roles, was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 2017, serving first in the state House and then the Senate. He decided to run for higher office during the government shutdown last year, which he blamed on Democrats, who temporarily held out on a deal to force concessions on health care subsidies.
“I just felt that it was time to have a pragmatic lawmaker in the United States Senate that can work across the aisle to get things done for Oregonians rather than just constantly blaming every single problem on (President Trump),” Brock Smith said.
In Brock Smith’s view, the biggest problem in Oregon is affordability. He attributed the problem partly to the war in Iran, but stopped short of outright condemning it.
At the same time, he said, Oregonians are frustrated with the vast amounts of money spent on education, roads and other government programs with middling results. He argued that the changes to social services programs, enacted by the Republican tax and spending cut bill, were necessary to reduce fraud and encourage work.
“We are in a situation where nearly a third of Oregonians are under SNAP, which is one of the highest in the country,” he said of the federal food assistance program. “And that in itself is a problem because we have too many people that are dependent upon these social safety net programs that shouldn’t be.”
Brock Smith continued: “I truly believe that we’re in a place that we need that pragmatic, level-headed, issue-focused work in the United States Senate so that we can bring Oregon into brighter days.”
Ballots are set to be mailed to Oregon voters this week.
