Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle stepped into a divided Congress and big shoes in 2022, when she was elected to her first term to represent Oregon鈥檚 4th District.
鈥淚 started working in a district that had Peter DeFazio for 36 years, and he did an amazing job,鈥� Hoyle told the Capital Chronicle, referring to Oregon鈥檚 longtime congressman who鈥檚 now retired. 鈥淪o I had to introduce myself to people in this district, from Curry County all the way up to Lincoln County and in between, and really let people know that we were there to work for them.鈥�
Now, as voting results indicate she鈥檚 slated to win her district again 鈥� which spans seven counties mostly along the southwest coast from the Oregon-California border to Lincoln City 鈥� she鈥檚 focused on proving herself to voters, she said, especially those who voted against her.
As of Wednesday afternoon, with about 57% of votes counted, Hoyle maintained a nearly 10-point lead on her Republican challenger, lawyer Monique DeSpain. DeSpain leads in Coos, Curry and Douglas counties while Hoyle holds the majority in Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties, as well as Lane County, which has the most registered voters in the district.
Votes will continue to be counted in the race, which drew national attention, with Republicans hoping to expand their majority in the U.S. House.
DeSpain did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Local and national Republicans have been counting on DeSpain flipping the district, control of which is still up for grabs as votes continue to be counted in races across the nation. Republicans gained control of the U.S. Senate in Tuesday鈥檚 election.
DeSpain, a lawyer for Salem-area state Rep. Kevin Mannix, has never held elected office. During the campaign, opponents criticized her for taking a weak stance on abortion rights and she had a fundraising disadvantage. She raised just over $750,000 as of the end of September compared with the nearly $2.4 million Hoyle raised.
Longtime public servant
Hoyle is a longtime elected official in Oregon. She served in the state House for eight years, including as majority leader, and was labor commissioner between 2019 and 2023.
In her first two years in the U.S. House, despite being in the Democratic minority, Hoyle said she championed bipartisan bills and brought to her district millions of dollars in federal funds for wildfire prevention and emergency communications. She said she also worked to increase firefighter pay and boost investments in housing and health care.
Hoyle said she would continue to prioritize securing wildfire and infrastructure funding for Oregon. She said the conservative policy blueprint , founded on stripping reproductive rights, mass deportations, ending efforts to address climate change and giving the executive branch full power over the federal government, is 鈥渇rightening鈥� and that she鈥檒l 鈥渃ontinue to fight for the values that we have here in Oregon.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been on the phone with people all this morning about potential tariffs and what that鈥檚 going to do to our international trade, what that鈥檚 going to do to our economy, certainly immigration 鈥� I mean, we start deporting however many millions of people 鈥� that鈥檚 really going to affect our economy, it鈥檚 going to affect families, and it鈥檚 going to affect communities,鈥� she said.
Despite her concerns, she said she is ready to work with colleagues from both parties and to champion her district鈥檚 concerns in the House. She currently serves on the natural resources and transportation committees..
鈥淚鈥檓 glad the campaign鈥檚 over, because now we can just focus on doing the work that I was elected to do,鈥� she said.
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