Sen. Ron Wyden (D) won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Oregon, handily defeating two challengers.
With 82 percent of the districts reporting at 3:47 a.m. ET, Wyden drew 90 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, Seven Republicans are jostling for a general election shot at the winner of that contest. The race was too close to call at 3:48 a.m. ET. With 62 percent of the districts reporting, Republicans Darin Harbick and Jo Rae Perkins led the pack with 32 percent and 31 percent of the vote respectively.
Wyden has been in public office for 40 years, representing Oregon’s 3rd Congressional from 1981 to 1996 before being elected to the senate.
In the primary contest, he faced Brent Thompson, a real estate investor and former city councilor and planning commissioner who ran unsuccessfully as a Reform Party candidate in 1996.
“Ron Wyden’s pro-growth positions Californicated Oregon,” Thompson said. “He has failed to think seven generations ahead.”
CEO of Oaks Sign Company, William E. Barlow III, the other challengers, said he wants to “stop 40 years of incrementalism … and endless positioning for the next election.”
Wyden, the incumbent, had a crushing campaign cash advantage over the challengers. According to the Federal Elections Commission, Wyden had raised more than $11 million during this cycle and had more than $8 million on hand as of April 27.
The money lead on the Republican ticket—a former grocery store manager and log hauler who served on a school board and Chamber of Commerce—is Harbick, who had raised a little more than $278,300 in that same time frame.
