Topline: Federal fundraising totals in Oregon fail to turn heads in Q1

With no competitive seats, both experienced and new Republican candidates have struggled to bank early cash for contests against Democrats favored to win in November.

Topline is a brief Oregon politics newsletter from the Crosstabs podcasters Bryan Iverson & Reagan Knopp. Send feedback or tips to hello@crosstabs.studio.

One of the most important federal fundraising deadlines of the year is now passed. Yesterday at 8:59 pm (11:59 EST) all candidates for Congress were required to submit Q1 2026 financial activity to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This report covers all fundraising and spending activity from January 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026.

The numbers suggest that Democrats hold a significant advantage in all the races for U.S. House that could be competing and the sole contest for U.S. Senate.

U.S. Senate

Senator Jeff Merkley is not considered to be in any danger. At this point that is true whether the Democrats achieve a blue wave in November or not. The last time Oregon’s U.S. Senate race was considered competitive was briefly in 2014. Dr. Monica Wehby won a contested primary as a moderate Republican and earned national endorsements from folks like Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich. She even had a Koch brothers backed Super PAC spending on her behalf. That race ended in disaster with allegations that Wehby stalked an ex-boyfriend. After investing significant time dollars, the Koch reservations disappeared and national Republicans wrote off the race.

The past two elections for U.S. Senate in Oregon have been almost identical. Both Merkley and New York icon, Ron Wyden, faced the same Republican opponent: Jo Rae Perkins of Albany (that’s Oregon this time not New York). Merkley received 58% to Perkins’ 39% while Wyden got 57% to Perkins’ 41% two years later.

In Q1 ‘26 Merkley raised just over $1 million bringing his total raised this cycle to $7.2 million. His current cash on hand is $6.5 million. Jo Rae Perkins raised $5,000 and has $1,200 on hand. No that isn’t a typo. Her campaign strategy appears to lean heavily on having appeared on this Republican primary ballot three times (2016, 2020, 2022).

State Senator David Brock Smith (Port Orford) entered the race on March 3rd, and raised nearly $25,000 in less than a month. He needs to hope he can exponentially increase those results so he can introduce himself to Republican voters outside his Southern Oregon Coast district in the State Senate. He will need it if he wants to offset Perkins significant name ID.

Congress

One of the challenges specific to Oregon Republicans fundraising for Congress is that without the ability to self-fund, fundraising totals are heavily dependent on whether or not your seat is nationally targeted.

Unfortunately, this is the first cycle since 2016 that no Oregon district has made the initial target list for National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Without that designation bundlers, big donors, and their Super PACs are unlikely to show interest in Beaver state Republican bid for congress.

4th District

Speaking of rematches, we have one down in the 4th District between Congresswoman Val Hoyle and attorney Monique DeSpain.

DeSpain made some brief hay last year after she out-raised Hoyle in the final quarter of 2025. That trend didn’t continue in 2026 thought as Hoyle raised $220k and has $500k cash on hand. DeSpain raised $158k and has $321k in the bank. DeSpain is in the best position money-wise of any Republican congressional candidate in the state. Unfortunately for her that’s not a high bar.

5th District

First term incumbent Congresswoman Janelle Bynum is the only Democrat the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC, pronounced “dee-triple-see”) is even remotely concerned about, having designated her as a Frontline Incumbent. That appears to have bolstered her fundraising to the tune of $750k in the quarter and a cash on hand total of $2.2 million.

Republicans are missing the powerhouse fundraiser that was former Congresswoman now Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The top candidate to take on Bynum this time is two-term Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair. She’s being challenged by an anti-Trump Republican named Jonathan Lockwood. He previously worked in the Colorado and Oregon legislatures as a press flack for Republicans.

Adair raised $92,218 in the most recent quarter and has $189k cash on hand. Lockwood didn’t meet the minimum fundraising threshold of $5,000. This will make it hard to launch his candidacy beyond the limited reaches of free social media. Adair posted better numbers in the previous quarter to the tune of $184k. Winning may help her some, but she needs the national political environment to shift her direction enough to bolster local fundraising and hopefully convince the NRCC to take another look at the recently red 5th congressional district.