Oregon’s 6th Congressional District still ‘too close to call’ nearly a week later

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Nearly a week after the election and Oregon’s newest congressional district still doesn’t have a clear winner.

As of Monday evening, Democrat Andrea Salinas was ahead of her Republican counterpart, Mike Erickson by just a few thousand votes. The outcome of this seat is one of at least 20 seats still up for grabs and will help determine which part has power in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dale lives in Tigard, a city district six covers. He said he hasn’t seen a congressional race this highly contested in Oregon before.

“It kind of goes to show how many people are, one, voting and participating in the election, but two, how close it is,” Dale said.

Thousands of votes, between all five counties, that district six touches, still need to be counted. With a new law, allowing ballots postmarked on election day to be counted, district six won’t have a clear winner anytime soon. As of Monday afternoon, Washington County has more than 70,000 ballots still needing to be counted, Yamhill said they have about 5,000, and Polk said they have about 4,000. Marion county did not return FOX 12′s request for information and the Clackamas County Clerk said she is not releasing how many ballots still need to be counted.

“It’s surprising it’s still dragging on like this and hopefully it’s a testament to the people, the poll workers, that they’re doing their job correctly,” Dale said.

Dale said he has this message for whoever wins his district.

“I hope they think of the people, what’s good for the people of Oregon, for Tigard, for Washington County and to take care of the issues and to solve the problems, and not worry about what the party tells them to do,” Dale said.

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