United States Senate elections in Oregon, 2014

	; ; 2014 U.S. Senate Elections in Oregon
	General Election Date ; November 4, 2014
	Primary Date ; May 20, 2014
	November 4 Election Winner: ; Jeff Merkley
	Incumbent prior to election: ; Jeff Merkley
	Race Ratings; Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely D
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	2014 U.S. House Elections

**U.S. Senate, Oregon General Election, 2014**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jeff Merkley Incumbent	55.7%	814,537
	Republican	Monica Wehby	36.9%	538,847
	Libertarian	Mike Montchalin	3.1%	44,916
	Constitution	James Leuenberger	1.7%	24,212
	Green	Christina Jean Lugo	2.2%	32,434
	Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous	0.5%	6,672
Total Votes				1,461,618
Source: Oregon Secretary of State

Voters in Oregon elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 4, 2014.

Incumbent Jeff Merkley, who ran as a Democratic, Independent, Working Families and Progressive candidate, defeated Monica Wehby (R), Mike Montchalin (L), James Leuenberger (Constitution) and Christina Jean Lugo (Pacific Green Party) in the general election.^[3]^[4]

Merkley defeated Pavel Goberman and William Bryk in the Democratic primary. Wehby defeated state Representative Jason Conger, Jo Rae Perkins, Mark Allen Callahan and Timothy Crawley in the Republican primary.^[5] The race was rated a "Democrat Favored" contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.^[6]

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 11, 2014	May 20, 2014	November 4, 2014

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Oregon generally utilizes a closed primary process. The selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members for presidential and legislative elections.^[7]^[8]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by April 29, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 14, 2014.^[9]

See also: Oregon elections, 2014

Incumbent: The election filled the Senate seat held by Jeff Merkley (D). Merkley was first elected in 2008.

Candidates

General election candidates

Jeff Merkley - Incumbent^[10]^[4]a
Monica Wehby - Pediatric neurosurgeon^[10]
Mike Montchalin^[3]
James Leuenberger^[3]
Christina Jean Lugo - Pacific Green Party^[3]

May 20, 2014, primary results

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

Monica Wehby - Pediatric neurosurgeona^[12]
Jason Conger - State Representative^[13]
Jo Rae Perkins^[13]
Mark Allen Callahan^[13]
Timothy Crawley

Withdrew from race

Karl King^[13]^[14]

Declined to run

Sam Carpenter - Businessman^[15]

Election results

General election

**U.S. Senate, Oregon General Election, 2014**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jeff Merkley Incumbent	55.7%	814,537
	Republican	Monica Wehby	36.9%	538,847
	Libertarian	Mike Montchalin	3.1%	44,916
	Constitution	James Leuenberger	1.7%	24,212
	Green	Christina Jean Lugo	2.2%	32,434
	Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous	0.5%	6,672
Total Votes				1,461,618
Source: Oregon Secretary of State

Primary election

**U.S. Senate, Oregon Democratic Primary, 2014**
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Merkley Incumbent	93.2%	256,365
William Bryk	3.9%	10,791
Pavel Goberman	2.9%	7,979
Total Votes		275,135
Source: Results via Associated Press

**U.S. Senate, Oregon Republican Primary, 2014**
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Monica Wehby	50.3%	128,911
Jason Conger	37.6%	96,497
Mark Allen Callahan	6.8%	17,427
Jo Rae Perkins	2.8%	7,275
Timothy Crawley	2.4%	6,209
Total Votes		256,319
Source: Results via Associated Press

After winning the Republican nomination, Wehby had this to say: "I do have a message for those national Democrats who were willing to shred my family for their own political gain: People are tired of your dirty tricks. Tonight, we're sending the message that this Senate race will not be decided by the kind of ugly politics that people in Oregon and across the country are so sick of."^[16]

Race background

2008 election

Incumbent Jeff Merkley, who was Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives at the time, defeated two-term Republican incumbent Gordon H. Smith with 49 percent of the vote in 2008 to win the seat.^[17]

"Deeply flawed"

Before the Republican primary results were announced, Merkley released a statement calling Wehby and Conger "deeply flawed candidates.” He added that they supported "a national Republican agenda that would hurt Oregon."^[18]

Plagiarism

Wehby deleted elements of her campaign website after she was accused of copying healthcare and economic plans from other sources and presenting them as her own. According to the Huffington Post, her healthcare reform plan contained "sections that bear a remarkable resemblance to the wording in a survey done for Crossroads GPS, a group founded by GOP strategist Karl Rove." In addition, Lindsey O'Brien, a Merkley campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that "Monica Wehby copied Mitt Romney's tax plan, plagiarized Karl Rove's health care plan and lifted the rest of her anti-middle class agenda straight from the oil billionaire Koch brothers."^[19]

Wehby's campaign released the following statement in response to the plagiarism allegation: "These website pages were authored by staff who are no longer employed by the campaign and were immediately removed once brought to our attention."^[19]

On September 25, 2014, Merkley released the ad, "Cut and Paste," which focused on the accusations that Wehby plagiarized some of the policies listed on her website. On September 30, 2014, Merkley released the ad, "Word for Word," which also focused on plagiarism and tied Wehby to the Koch brothers.

Key votes

Below are important votes that Merkley cast during the 113th Congress.

National security

John Brennan CIA nomination

Merkley voted against confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 7, 2013, with a vote of 63 - 34. Most Democrats supported the nomination, while Republicans were somewhat divided with roughly one-third supporting the nomination.^[20]

Economy

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

During the shutdown in October 2013, the Senate rejected, down party lines, every House-originated bill that stripped the budget of funding for the Affordable Care Act. A deal was reached late on October 16, 2013, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The bill to reopen the government, H.R. 2775, lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.^[21] The final vote on H.R. 2775 was 81-18, with all 18 votes against the bill from Republican members. Merkley voted with the Democratic Party for the bill.^[22]

No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013

Merkley voted for H.R.325 -- No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2013, with a vote of 64 - 34. The purpose of the bill was to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling and withhold the pay of members of Congress until a budget could be passed. The vote largely followed party lines with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting it and many Republicans opposing the bill.^[20]

Immigration

Mexico-U.S. border

Merkley voted against Senate Amendment 1197 -- Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border. The amendment was rejected by the Senate on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 39 - 54. The purpose of the amendment was to require the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 before registered provisional immigrant status may be granted. It would also require 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants may be changed to permanent resident status. The vote followed party lines.^[20]

Endorsements

Monica Wehby

Monica Wehby was endorsed by the following people:

Mitt Romney^[23]
Newt Gingrich - former House Speaker^[23]
Sen. Mitch McConnell^[23]

Media

Jeff Merkley

Jeff Merkley, "Cut and Paste."

Jeff Merkley, "Word for Word."

Monica Wehby

"A New Voice" - Dr. Monica Wehby Announces Candidacy for U.S. Senate (Oregon).

Monica for Oregon - "Trust."

Monica for Oregon - New TV Ad: "Accountability."

Monica Wehby (R) announced her candidacy in a web video on October 29, 2013.^[24] Wehby said, "When I talk to small business owners they are very concerned about all these new regulations, new laws, new taxes coming out of Washington D.C. They don’t know whether to invest and grow their business, or hold back and see what happens to this economy. They don’t feel like they have a senator who is looking out for them.”^[24]

Wehby for Senate - "Spending."

"Ben West - Monica Wehby for U.S. Senate."

Freedom Partners

August 5, 2014, "Congress is Out of Touch with Oregon Families."

August 14, 2014,"Sen. Merkley: Get to Work for Oregon."

Freedom Partners, a Koch-affiliated PAC, released ads in support of Wehby. Merkley derided groups like Freedom Partners saying, "The beauty of our system of government is that it is based on 'We the People,' not 'We the Powerful.' The Koch brothers agenda is all about 'We the Powerful.'"^[25] Wehby expressed a different view saying, "I'm happy that people see this as a seat that is in play...and people are investing in this race because they see it as an opportunity to get control of the Senate."^[25]

Jason Conger

American Principles Fund

American Principles Fund, "Repeal."

American Principles Fund, a conservative super-PAC, released an ad backing Conger for his stance against legalized abortion and promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The ad attacked Wehby, calling her "pro-abortion" and arguing that she would not repeal Obamacare.