Gordon Smith

U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith's (R-Pendleton) campaign released its second ad Friday attacking his Democratic opponent, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, on his tax record, using a quote from Merkley saying he was for raising taxes and again referring to 44 votes Merkley made in the Oregon House to raise taxes.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee increased its involvement in Oregon's senate race on Friday by re-launching a website attacking Merkley for his record on taxes and by releasing a video addressing the controversy over ads produced by the Democratic Party of Oregon featuring Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland).

In this weeks Winner's & Losers the US Senate candidates top both lists, hope is revived for the GOP by one former House Speaker and Oregon needs a new rural prosecutor.  | CLICK HERE

A poll released Wednesday showing Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) and Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) in a virtual dead heat revealed that a large portion of Democratic voters that previously supported the Republican incumbent are now supporting the Democratic challenger.

The Democratic Party of Oregon is persevering with its "issues" ad campaign and released a new ad on Thursday featuring Jeff Merkley, despite the complaint U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith's campaign had filed with the FEC against the party-sponsored ads.

The DPO ads have become controversial because, while the DPO says these ads are for the purpose of addressing issues in the election, they feature a political candidate. If the FEC finds that these ads support Merkley's candidacy, then Merkley and the DPO will be in violation of campaign finance laws regarding how much money a party can give a candidate.

On Thursday, Smith's campaign manager called on Merkley to cease and desist working with the DPO on issues advertising.

"You once stated that ‘honest, accountable governments begin with honest, accountable campaigns,'" Kochvar said. "I agree and hope that you will join Senator Smith in completing this campaign in an honest and publicly accountable manner."

An increasingly hostile climate for Republican candidates is the main reason that the Oregon Senate race was reclassified as a “toss up” race instead of a “leans Republican” race by The Cook Political Report on Thursday.

While the highly-regarded report praised Smith as a solid candidate and suggested that Merkley would not be able to keep up with the incumbent financially, it warned that even if Smith runs a flawless campaign, anti-Republican sentiment sweeping through voters fed up with war, an ailing economy, and high gas prices may lead to his downfall in November.

“Having to run against a bad political climate, one over which he has no control and cannot change, is an entirely different story,” the report said. “As such, the circumstances in this race warrant moving it to the Toss Up column.”

The Rasmussen poll released yesterday showing House Speaker Jeff Merkley ahead of incumbent Senator Gordon Smith has certainly shaken up what was feeling like a lull in the campaign season.

Democrats reacted ecstatically on Wednesday to the news that Oregon House Speaker and U.S Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) was beating U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) in the latest Rasmussen poll 43 to 41 percent.

The Bend Bulletin scolded Democrats for attempting to make an issue out of Gordon Smith’s wealth in an editorial on Wednesday.