The nine candidates who are trying to fill the seat left open by Congressman Peter DeFazio’s retirement have collectively raised more than $3 million in the race so far.
When DeFazio, a Springfield Democrat, announced in December that he wouldn’t seek a 19th term in office, it created an opening in Oregon’s 4th District for the first time since the mid 1980’s.
Eight Democrats and one Republican have filed for the seat. That lone Republican, Alek Skarlatos, led all candidates in the first quarter with nearly $600,000 raised. He spent about $378,000 in the first quarter, despite not having any opponents on the May primary ballot.
On the Democratic side, Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle has taken in almost as much money so far as all of her opponents combined, with a total of $626,000 in this election cycle, of which $409,000 came in the first three months of this year. Hoyle has snagged endorsements from DeFazio and several other prominent Democrats.
Of the other candidates, political strategist and environmental attorney Doyle Canning led in fundraising in the first quarter, bringing in $189,000.
John Selker, a professor in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, brought in $153,000 in the first three months of the year, but by the end of March, had spent very little of it. That put him second among Democrats, behind only Hoyle, in terms of cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Airbnb executive Andrew Kalloch brought in $115,000 in the first quarter, and Corvallis School Board member Sami Al-Abdrabbuh had brought in $35,100.
The three other Democrats on the primary ballot do not have fundraising committees, according to the Federal Elections Commission website.
Ballots go out in the mail next week for the primary, which is May 17.