Oregon Sen. Merkley wins reelection bid

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) is projected to win reelection after a smooth race, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), The Hill’s election partner.

Merkley was leading Republican David Brock Smith by 21 percentage points — 59 percent to 38 percent — with 51 percent of the vote reported by DDHQ as of 11 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

The incumbent senator was widely expected to be reelected to the safe Democratic seat he has held since 2009. Merkley, 70, was a state legislator and Speaker of the Oregon House for one term before being elected to the Senate.

In Congress, he has pushed for institutional reforms like streamlining the filibuster and banning congressional stock trading. He was the only senator to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president in 2016, and he has backed other progressive Democrats and ideas. Like Sanders, he has been critical of arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

In the current Congress, he is one of the top Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, where he has pushed for stricter regulations on Wall Street to protect the housing market and the banking system.

Merkley has also delivered record-breaking speeches on the Senate floor, including for more than 22 hours in October 2025, when he condemned President Trump for “authoritarianism” and “tyranny.”

National parties had largely stayed out of the race. Smith had only raised about $300,000 compared to Merkley’s $8 million.