United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2008
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The 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
, coinciding with the presidential and
senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms those elected will be serving in the
111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...
from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. Oregon has five seats in the House, apportioned according to the
2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
. Its 2007–2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and one
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. This remains unchanged although ''CQ Politics'' had forecasted district 5 to be at some risk for the incumbent party earlier in the year. A primary election for Democrats and Republicans was held on May 20. To be eligible for the primaries, candidates had to file for election by March 11. Other parties had other procedures for nominating candidates.


Overview


District 1

Democratic incumbent
David Wu David Wu (born April 8, 1955) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As a child of immigrants from Taiwan, Wu was the first Taiwanese American to serve in ...
has represented
Oregon's 1st congressional district Oregon's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S state of Oregon. The district stretches from Portland's western suburbs and exurbs, to parts of the Oregon coast. The district includes the principal cities of ...
since 1998 and is the Democratic nominee in 2008, defeating Will Hobbs and Mark Welyczko in the primary. Hobbs, a political novice, earned some attention late in the race, by winning the endorsements of major newspapers ''
The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' and ''
Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...
''. He won 16.7% of the vote to Wu's 78.0%. In the Republican primary, Joel Haugen defeated pathologist Claude W. Chappell IV, but later withdrew his acceptance of the Republican nomination after his endorsement of Democrat
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
for President drew objections from Republican party leaders.


Democratic primary


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Republican primary


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General election


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District 2

Incumbent Republican
Greg Walden Gregory Paul Walden (born January 10, 1957) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2021. He is a Republican. Walden is the son of three-term Oregon State Representative Paul E. Walden. In October 2019, ...
has represented
Oregon's 2nd congressional district Oregon's 2nd congressional district is the largest of Oregon's six districts, and is the seventh largest district in the nation. It is the second-largest congressional district in the nation that does not cover an entire state. The district ...
since 1998 and was unopposed for the Republican nomination in 2008. In the general election, he faced Democrat Noah Lemas, a small business owner, Richard Hake of the
Constitution Party of Oregon The Constitution Party of Oregon is a political party organized as a minor party pursuant to state election law, and recognized by the U.S. state of Oregon as a statewide nominating party. A state party was first organized under this name in 1952, ...
and
Pacific Green Party The Pacific Green Party of Oregon (PGP) is a political party in the U.S. state of Oregon, recognized by the Oregon Secretary of State. It is affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. The party has occasionally elected candidates to p ...
candidate Tristin Mock.


Democratic primary


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Republican primary


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General election


Candidates


Results


District 3

Incumbent Democrat
Earl Blumenauer Earl Francis Blumenauer ( ; born August 16, 1948) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1996. The district includes most of Portland east of the Willamette River. A member of the Democratic P ...
has represented
Oregon's 3rd congressional district Oregon's 3rd congressional district covers most of Multnomah County, including Gresham, Troutdale, and most of Portland east of the Willamette River (parts of Northwest and Southwest Portland lie in the 1st and 5th districts). It also in ...
since 1996 and was the Democratic nominee in 2008, defeating TV co-host John Sweeney and retired utility worker and peace activist Joseph "Lone Vet" Walsh in the primary. In the general election, he faced Republican Delia Lopez, a real estate investor, and Pacific Green Party candidate Michael Meo.


Democratic primary


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Republican primary


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General election


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District 4

Incumbent Democrat
Peter DeFazio Peter Anthony DeFazio (; born May 27, 1947) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes Eugene, Springfield, Corvallis, Roseburg, Coos Bay ...
has represented
Oregon's 4th congressional district Oregon's 4th congressional district represents the southern half of Oregon's coastal counties, including Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, and Benton counties and most of Linn and Josephine counties. It is centered around the state's two college ...
since 1986 and was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in 2008. He was being challenged in the general election by Constitution Party member Jaynee Germond and Pacific Green Mike Beilstein, a research chemist. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.


Democratic primary


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Republican primary


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General election


Candidates


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District 5

In February 2008, Democrat
Darlene Hooley Darlene Kay Olson Hooley (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's . A high school teacher by profession, she served as a city counc ...
, who had represented
Oregon's 5th congressional district Oregon's 5th congressional district represents Oregon's central coast through Salem, north to the southern Portland suburbs – including a sliver of Portland itself – and east to the summit of Mount Hood. It includes Lincoln, Marion ...
since 1996, announced that she would not seek re-election in 2008. The race to replace her was expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation, since the district contained about 2,000 more Republicans than Democrats at that time. There were two major factors for the competitiveness of the race: first, the demographics of the district had changed dramatically. In June, there were 20,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district, a net swing of 22,000 voters since February. Secondly, Republican nominee Erickson won a contentious primary in which an opponent,
Kevin Mannix Kevin Leese Mannix (born November 26, 1949) is an American politician, business attorney, and former chairman of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Oregon. Mannix has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as a Demo ...
, raised an allegation that Erickson paid for a former girlfriend's abortion. The girlfriend subsequently went public with the information, but Erickson denied knowledge of the event. Mannix refused to endorse Erickson in the general election. Democratic nominee
Kurt Schrader Walter Kurt Schrader (born October 19, 1951) is an American politician and veterinarian serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. His district covered most of Oregon's central coast, plus Salem, and many of Portland's southern suburbs, ...
won against Republican nominee
Mike Erickson Mike Erickson (born January 27, 1963) is an American businessman and perennial political candidate in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Oregon's 6th congressional district i ...
, 166,070 (54.3%) to 116,418 (38.3%). Also competing were
Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
nominee Steve Milligan,
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
nominee Douglas Patterson, Pacific Green nominee Alex Polikoff, and Independent Sean Bates.


Democratic primary


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Republican primary


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General election


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See also

*
United States House of Representatives elections, 2008 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
*
United States presidential election in Oregon, 2008 The 2008 United States presidential election in Oregon took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for preside ...
*
United States Senate election in Oregon, 2008 The 2008 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon H. Smith sought reelection to a third term. Smith was the only Republican Senator from the West Coast (excluding Alaska) an ...
*
Oregon state elections, 2008 On November 4, 2008, the U.S. state of Oregon held statewide general elections for three statewide offices ( secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney general), both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, and twelve state ballot measures. T ...


References


External links


U.S. Congress candidates for Oregon
at
Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Oregon U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Oregon congressional races
from
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...
{{2008 United States elections
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...