Merkley tops Novick, will challenge Sen. Smith

State Rep. Jeff Merkley won the Democratic primary and the right to face Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) on Tuesday, topping activist Steve Novick in a hard-fought contest.

Also, in Oregon’s open House race, GOP businessman Mike Erickson beat former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix and will face state Sen. Kurt Schrader for retiring Rep. Darlene Hooley’s (D) seat.

{mosads}Merkley led Novick 47-41 with 63 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results, and several local media outlets projected him to be the winner of the contest.

Merkley now enters a general election matchup that began before the primary was over. Despite the close nature of the Democratic race, Smith and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent nearly $1 million trading barbs over the airwaves this month.

The Democratic nominee is the state House speaker, and he helped deliver big electoral gains for Democrats in the state legislature in 2006. He previously worked in Washington, in the Pentagon and in Congress.

Novick was frequently dismissed early on as a novelty candidate, while national Democrats mined Oregon for a bigger and better candidate to reclaim the blue state from Smith. In the end, he nearly knocked off the establishment candidate.

Smith was elected with 50 percent of the vote in 1996 and reelected with 56 percent in 2002, a strong year for Republicans.

In the House race, Erickson withstood late accusations from Mannix that Erickson had used drugs and paid for a woman to abort a pregnancy he caused. He led Mannix 53-43 with 62 percent of precincts in, according to The Oregonian.

Schrader easily defeated former gubernatorial aide Steve Marks in the Democratic primary.

Hooley’s 5th congressional district is a bona fide swing district.