United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2008

Oregon's United States congressional districts

The United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2008 were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the state of Oregon in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms those elected will be serving in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011.

Oregon has five seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States Census. Its 2007–2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and one Republican. 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.^[1] Other parties had other procedures for nominating candidates.

District 1

See also: Oregon's 1st congressional district

Democratic incumbent David Wu has represented Oregon's 1st congressional district since 1998 and is the Democratic nominee in 2008, defeating Will Hobbs and Mark Welyczko in the primary.^[2] Hobbs, a political novice, earned some attention late in the race, by winning the endorsements of major newspapers The Oregonian and Willamette Week.^[3] He won 16.7% of the vote to Wu's 78.0%.^[4]

In the Republican primary, Joel Haugen defeated pathologist Claude W. Chappell IV,^[5] but later withdrew his acceptance of the Republican nomination after his endorsement of Democrat Barack Obama for President drew objections from Republican party leaders.^[6]

Oregon's 1st congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	David Wu (inc.)	237,567	71.50%
	Independent	Joel Haugen	58,279	17.54%
	Constitution	Scott Semrau	14,172	4.27%
	Libertarian	H. Joe Tabor	10,992	3.31%
	Pacific Green	Chris Henry	7,128	2.15%
	Write-ins		4,110	1.24%
Totals			332,248	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 2

See also: Oregon's 2nd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Greg Walden has represented Oregon's 2nd congressional 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,^[7] Richard Hake of the Constitution Party of Oregon and Pacific Green Party candidate Tristin Mock.^[8]

Oregon's 2nd congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Greg Walden (inc.)	236,560	69.50%
	Democratic	Noah Lemas	87,649	25.75%
	Pacific Green	Tristin Mock	9,668	2.84%
	Constitution	Richard D. Hake	5,817	1.71%
	Write-ins		685	0.20%
Totals			340,379	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 3

See also: Oregon's 3rd congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Earl Blumenauer has represented Oregon's 3rd congressional district 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.^[2] In the general election, he faced Republican Delia Lopez, a real estate investor,^[9] and Pacific Green Party candidate Michael Meo.^[10]

Oregon's 3rd congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Earl Blumenauer (inc.)	254,235	74.54%
	Republican	Delia Lopez	71,063	20.84%
	Pacific Green	Michael Meo	15,063	4.42%
	Write-ins		701	0.21%
Totals			341,062	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 4

See also: Oregon's 4th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Peter DeFazio has represented Oregon's 4th congressional district since 1986 and was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in 2008.^[2] He was being challenged in the general election by Constitution Party member Jaynee Germond and Pacific Green Mike Beilstein, a research chemist.^[11] CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Oregon's 4th congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Peter DeFazio (inc.)	275,143	82.34%
	Constitution	Jaynee Germond	43,133	12.91%
	Pacific Green	Mike Beilstein	13,162	3.94%
	Write-ins		2,708	0.81%
Totals			334,146	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 5

See also: Oregon's 5th congressional district

See also: Opinion polling for the United States House of Representatives elections, 2008#Oregon

In February 2008, Democrat Darlene Hooley, who had represented Oregon's 5th congressional district since 1996, announced that she would not seek re-election in 2008.^[12] 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.^[13][14]

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.^[15] Secondly, Republican nominee Erickson won a contentious primary in which an opponent, Kevin Mannix, 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.^[16] Mannix refused to endorse Erickson in the general election.^[17]

Democratic nominee Kurt Schrader won against Republican nominee Mike Erickson, 166,070 (54.5%) to 116,418 (38.2%). Also competing were Libertarian nominee Steve Milligan, Constitution nominee Douglas Patterson, Pacific Green nominee Alex Polikoff, and Independent Sean Bates.

Oregon's 5th congressional district election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Kurt Schrader	181,577	54.25%
	Republican	Mike Erickson	128,297	38.33%
	Independent	Sean Bates	6,830	2.04%
	Constitution	Douglas Patterson	6,558	1.96%
	Pacific Green	Alex Polikoff	5,272	1.58%
	Libertarian	Steve Milligan	4,814	1.44%
	Write-ins		1,326	0.40%
Totals			334,674	100.00%
	Democratic hold

References

1. ^ "Voting and Voter Registration". Oregon Blue Book. http://bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections01.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-08. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Erickson beats Mannix in contest turned nasty". OregonLive.com. 2008-05-21. http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1211351120118860.xml&coll=7&thispage=3. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
3. ^ Holgate, Steve (May 9, 2008). "Oregon Congressional Incumbent Faces Challenge Within His Party". News Blaze. http://newsblaze.com/story/20080509135959tsop.nb/newsblaze/WORLDNEW/World-News.html. Retrieved 2008-05-23. 
4. ^ Oregon Secretary of State unofficial election results. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
5. ^ "Haugen for Congress". http://home.comcast.net/~jthaugen/Haugen_for_Congress.html. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
6. ^ Cole, Michelle (2008-08-30). "Joel Haugen withdraws acceptance of Republican nomination". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1220061323124840.xml&coll=7. Retrieved 2008-09-08. 
7. ^ "Noah Lemas for Congress". http://www.noahlemas.com/. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
8. ^ "Tristin Mock for U.S. House of Representatives". http://www.votemock.com/. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
9. ^ "Delia Lopez for Congress". http://www.dlopezforcongress.com/. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
10. ^ "Michael Meo US House of Representatives". http://www.meoforcongress.org. Retrieved 2008-06-12. 
11. ^ "Mike Beilstein US House of Representatives". http://www.newmenu.org/mikebeilsteinforcongress. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
12. ^ Kosseff, Jeff; Charles Pope (February 7, 2008). "Rep. Hooley will not run for re-election". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2008/02/hooley_will_not_run_for_reelec.html. 
13. ^ (PDF) Voter Registration by Congressional District: February 2008. Oregon Secretary of State. February 2008. p. 8. http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/votreg/feb08.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-31 
14. ^ Kapochunas, Rachel (February 7, 2008). "Tossup House Race Emerges as Oregon Democrat Hooley Retires". CQPolitics.com. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002667542. Retrieved 2008-02-08. 
15. ^ (PDF) Voter Registration by Congressional District: June 2008. Oregon Secretary of State. June 2008. p. 8. http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/votreg/jun08.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-31 
16. ^ Har, Janie (2008-06-23). "Oregon City woman details abortion, relationship with Mike Erickson". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1214184327223290.xml&coll=7. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
17. ^ Kraushaar, Josh (2008-05-21). "Mannix refuses to endorse Erickson". CBSNews.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/21/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4114938.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 

External links

• Elections Division from the Oregon Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Oregon at Project Vote Smart
• Oregon U.S. House Races from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions for Oregon congressional races from OpenSecrets.org