Jeff Merkley has served as a Democrat to the Oregon House of Representatives since 1998. He was elected as a Democratic leader in 2003, and then as Speaker of the Oregon House in 2006. Speaker Merkley received early support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Steve Novick is a former Department of Justice litigator who argued on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency. He became involved in Oregon politics while working as policy direct for Tom Bruggere in 1996. Later he served as chief of staff to the Democrats in the State Senate. In 2002, he served as policy director for Governor Kulongoski's successful campaign for governor.

Candy Neville is a Eugene, Oregon resident. Until KATU released a poll showing that she came out ahead of the presumptive frontrunner Merkley, Neville was hardly considered a viable candidate. She has no political experience, yet stands against the war in Iraq, any war in Iran, and supports a movement to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Other candidates include Pavel Goberman, David Loera and Rober Obrist. Polling suggests that these candidates are not viable. However, their names did appear on Oregon ballots.

On the Republican side, incumbent Senator Gordon Smith is expected to win the primary race. Smith is a junior Senator from Oregon, who lost a special election to Senator Ron Wyden in 1996. As of November of last year, Smith's approval rating was only at 52 percent. His approval ratings are one of the reasons that the Democrat party has targeted him.

Results will be updated here once they are available. Click here to refresh.

Democrats:

Merkley - 47%
Novick - 41%
Neville - 7%
Goberman - 1%
Loera - 2%
Obrist - 2%

Republicans:

Smith - 86.03%
Leich - 13.48%


The junior U.S. Senate Seat race will be between Senator Gordon Smith and Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley.
Correction: Typo in the last update to Novick's percentage has been corrected from 1% to 41%.