Jeff Merkley, Gordon Smith Senate Election Results?

Democrat Jeff Merkley has defeated incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith in Oregon, according to the Oregonian newspaper.

If the result stands, Democrats will have picked up six Senate seats, including knocking off three Republican incumbents.

Related: On Progressive Path, Jeff Merkley Questions Even Obama

The Oregon Senate results map:

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EARLIER:

One of the many Republican Senate seats at risk this election is that of Gordon Smith of Oregon. His challenger, Jeff Merkley is currently Speaker of the Oregon House Of Representatives.

A graphic in this story of today's New York Times distills the Oregon race nicely, saying:

Senator Gordon H. Smith won by 18 percentage points in 2002. But in the last year, the number of registered Democrats increased by 18 percent, while Republican registration fell slightly. The state votes by mail.

The AP reports that an astonishing amount of money has already been spent on the race:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic and Republican campaign committees together have spent more than $15 million on Oregon's Senate race so far -- the most the two party committees have spent on any Senate race in the country.

New campaign finance numbers from the Federal Election Commission show the Democratic campaign group has spent $10.2 million boosting Jeff Merkley, while the GOP campaign arm has spent nearly $5 million helping two-term Sen. Gordon Smith.

The Senate race is easily the most expensive election in Oregon history, with total expenditures now estimated at about $40 million and climbing.

As Oregon mails its votes, most of the results should be in by now. We'll have the results as soon as they're availbale.