Merkley Declares Victory In Senate Race
POSTED: 9:53 am PST November 6,
2008
UPDATED: 8:29 am PST November 7,
2008
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Democrat Jeff Merkley declared victory over incumbent Republican Gordon Smith on Thursday in Oregon's U.S. Senate race.Smith called Merkley to concede Thursday morning and later spoke from his Pendleton home."While defeat is disappointing, I have no regrets about the campaign we waged," Smith said in a written statement. "Simply, the national political tide was too high to overcome."Smith conceded after Merkley opened up a lead of 46,237 votes. Merkley made his victory speech at Portland State University."There's a lot of work for us to do together," Merkley told a crowd of supporters Thursday morning as they jammed a room at PSU.
Raw Video: Merkley Declares Victory"It's time for a very different approach," he said, in such areas as health care, job creation, affordable housing and energy independence.Smith, meanwhile, said he has no intention of returning to politics during his news conference in Pendleton."The things that Republicans and Democrats have in common are much greater than the things they have in difference," Smith said.Raw Video: Gordon Smith Concedes DefeatFOX 12 political analyst Tim Hibbitts first projected Merkley the winner Tuesday night, despite a narrow lead. Smith later took the lead in votes, but Merkley moved ahead for good late Wednesday, prompting The Oregonian to join Hibbitts in calling the race.On Thursday, Merkley was with his fellow Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden, who said it wasn't an easy decision for Oregon to replace Smith.Merkley, said Wyden, "is not just going to be a good Oregon senator, he's going to be a great one."For Smith, the election represented a stinging rejection by voters of his political strategy. He ran TV ads touting his work with Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and other prominent Democrats on issues such as alternative energy.Merkley countered with a TV ad featuring Obama directly urging Oregonians to vote for Merkley. It was the only TV ad Obama had done for another candidate this year, showing the importance that national Democrats placed on the Oregon race.A year ago, most observers doubted that Merkley could defeat the better-funded Smith, a millionaire owner of a frozen foods processing plant and former state legislative leader.Merkley turned the race in his direction with millions of dollars in help from national Democrats and a campaign blitz that took him to 100 communities around the state.Merkley is one member of a class of Democrats elected to the Senate in the election that put Obama in the White House.So far, Democrats have at least 57 votes in the U.S. Senate with the outcome of three other races yet to be determined. A runoff election is to be held in Georgia, a recount is scheduled in Minnesota, and the outcome in Alaska wasn't clear.A flood of votes Oregonians delivered on Election Day kept election workers tallying ballots for two days.Merkley is the first leader in 40 years to defeat an incumbent U.S. senator in Oregon. Forty years ago this week, Republican Bob Packwood was declared the winner in an upset of Democratic Sen. Wayne Morse.
View FOX 12 News ReportRaw Video: Gordon Smith Concedes DefeatRaw Video: Merkley Declares Victory
Raw Video: Merkley Declares Victory"It's time for a very different approach," he said, in such areas as health care, job creation, affordable housing and energy independence.Smith, meanwhile, said he has no intention of returning to politics during his news conference in Pendleton."The things that Republicans and Democrats have in common are much greater than the things they have in difference," Smith said.Raw Video: Gordon Smith Concedes DefeatFOX 12 political analyst Tim Hibbitts first projected Merkley the winner Tuesday night, despite a narrow lead. Smith later took the lead in votes, but Merkley moved ahead for good late Wednesday, prompting The Oregonian to join Hibbitts in calling the race.On Thursday, Merkley was with his fellow Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden, who said it wasn't an easy decision for Oregon to replace Smith.Merkley, said Wyden, "is not just going to be a good Oregon senator, he's going to be a great one."For Smith, the election represented a stinging rejection by voters of his political strategy. He ran TV ads touting his work with Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and other prominent Democrats on issues such as alternative energy.Merkley countered with a TV ad featuring Obama directly urging Oregonians to vote for Merkley. It was the only TV ad Obama had done for another candidate this year, showing the importance that national Democrats placed on the Oregon race.A year ago, most observers doubted that Merkley could defeat the better-funded Smith, a millionaire owner of a frozen foods processing plant and former state legislative leader.Merkley turned the race in his direction with millions of dollars in help from national Democrats and a campaign blitz that took him to 100 communities around the state.Merkley is one member of a class of Democrats elected to the Senate in the election that put Obama in the White House.So far, Democrats have at least 57 votes in the U.S. Senate with the outcome of three other races yet to be determined. A runoff election is to be held in Georgia, a recount is scheduled in Minnesota, and the outcome in Alaska wasn't clear.A flood of votes Oregonians delivered on Election Day kept election workers tallying ballots for two days.Merkley is the first leader in 40 years to defeat an incumbent U.S. senator in Oregon. Forty years ago this week, Republican Bob Packwood was declared the winner in an upset of Democratic Sen. Wayne Morse.View FOX 12 News ReportRaw Video: Gordon Smith Concedes DefeatRaw Video: Merkley Declares VictoryCopyright 2009 by KPTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
