Jeff Merkley Declared Winner In Oregon Senate Race

PORTLAND, Ore. — Democrat Jeff Merkley has ousted Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, a victory once considered unlikely against an incumbent who had highlighted his efforts to work across the aisle in hopes of surviving a wave of anti-GOP sentiment.

Smith's loss _ the first for an Oregon senator in 40 years _ means Democrats are poised to have at least 57 votes in the Senate next year. He had been the last GOP senator standing in the three Pacific Coast states south of Alaska.

"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 Portland State University and spilled into the hallway.

"It's time for a very different approach," he said, in such areas as health care, job creation, affordable housing and energy independence.

Smith gave a concession speech from his home in Pendleton.

"There was simply a tide too strong for us to stem. We understand that," said Smith, his arm around his wife.

About 82 percent of the vote had been counted statewide early Thursday, showing Merkley with a margin of more than 40,000 votes.

The difference was smaller before more vote totals started coming in from Multnomah County, which includes Portland. A flood of votes that Oregonians delivered on Election Day have kept election workers tallying ballots for days.

For Merkley, it was a remarkable personal victory. The state House speaker and policy wonk from east Portland was far from the first choice of national Democrats looking for a challenger to Smith.

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 did for another candidate for the general election, showing the importance that national Democrats placed on the Oregon race.

There will be at least 55 Democrats in the Senate, plus two independents who align with them. The outcomes of three Senate races remain uncertain: A runoff election is to be held in Georgia, a recount is scheduled in Minnesota, and thousands of ballots remain to be counted in a close race in Alaska.

A year ago, most observers doubted that Merkley could defeat the better-funded Smith. Merkley turned the race in his direction with millions of dollars from national Democrats and a campaign blitz that took him to 100 communities around the state.

Merkley told crowds that Smith was a Bush Republican who was more interested in bailing out Wall Street than helping people on Main Street.

He's the first Oregonian to oust an incumbent senator since Republican Bob Packwood ousted Democratic Sen. Wayne Morse in 1968.

(This version CORRECTS that the ad featuring Obama was the only one Obama did for the general election, not during the whole year.)