Rep. Andrea Salinas leads in race for Oregon’s 6th Congressional District

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas was leading Republican businessman Mike Erickson in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District on Wednesday morning.

In early returns, Salinas held a notable lead over Erickson, whom she beat in a 2022 contest for the seat. If that lead continues, she will return to Congress to represent a district that stretches from Salem to Portland’s southwest suburbs.

While technically a repeat of the district race two years ago, this year’s contest looked a bit different.

With the advantage of incumbency and enthusiasm among Democrats for Vice President Kamala Harris, Salinas spent more than $3.7 million working to convince voters to give her another term.

She emphasized her success as a freshman lawmaker in passing one of just 27 bills to make it to President Joe Biden’s desk last year — a law that restored the right of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to assert land claims — and stressed her support for protecting access to abortion.

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Salinas took the stage shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday at a Democratic election night event in downtown Portland where national results had many in the crowd subdued.

“I know tomorrow feels a little bittersweet as we wait for an answer in the presidential contest,” Salinas told a ballroom at the Hilton hotel. “But I can’t tell you how happy and excited I am for Oregon’s future.”

Listing off a slate of Democrats who’d won statewide races for secretary of state, attorney general and treasurer, Salinas said Oregon has a “silver lining” in the election, regardless of what happens in Washington, D.C.

“I am so honored to serve you and your neighbors in Congress,” she said. “And I want you to know I am going back to D.C. to fight like hell! Let’s keep working.”

Erickson, who is independently wealthy from his transportation consulting firm, held off on the kind of self-funding he’s used in past races. The businessman spent nearly $3 million of his own money on the 2022 race. This year, he limited spending to around $300,000, much of that in the final days of the race.

As a result, Erickson was less visible than Salinas on Portland’s expensive airwaves, holding off on ads until just before Election Day. He instead focused on attending events and meeting voters face-to-face while leveraging the name recognition he’d earned from three past unsuccessful runs for Congress.

“I’m not going to buy the election,” Erickson told OPB in September. “I’m going to earn it.”

The Republican said he was running for Congress again to bring a business perspective to the body, saying he’d work to bring down prices and make the U.S. energy independent.

The 6th Congressional District is the state’s newest, drawn up in a 2021 redistricting process led in part by Salinas, then a member of the Oregon House.

From its main population center in Salem, the district spans west to the Coast Range and north. It contains the farmland of Yamhill and Polk counties and ropes in Portland suburbs like Tigard, Tualatin and a portion of Beaverton.

Those suburbs were a centerpiece of Salinas’ 2022 victory, while Erickson prevailed in more rural areas.

Democrats have a voter registration advantage of more than 5% in the district, and national prognosticators believed Salinas had the edge once again this year. But national Democrats elevated Salinas as a “frontline” candidate they would prioritize defending.

“This myth is that this is just a heavily Democratic district, and it’s not,” Salinas told OPB in September. “So there’s no surprise that this is going to be another close race.”