UPDATED: Wednesday, Nov. 6, 6:00 a.m. ... The Democrat managed to fend off Republican challenger Monique DeSpain. As of Wednesday morning, Hoyle was getting 52.6 percent of the vote, to 43.7 percent for DeSpain.
For more than three decades, Oregon鈥檚 4th Congressional District was represented by Peter DeFazio. The district stretches from Eugene to Roseburg and includes much of the southern Oregon Coast. Hoyle won the seat in 2022 in a tight race against Alek Skarlatos.
The latest contest had longtime public official Hoyle up against political newcomer DeSpain.
Hoyle is both a former state lawmaker and Oregon鈥檚 former labor commissioner. On the campaign trail, she focused on her record to fight for reproductive health care and highlighted her efforts to help working people. She touted her involvement to help push for an increase in the state鈥檚 minimum wage and provide paid sick leave for workers while she served as a state lawmaker.
In Congress, an ad for Hoyle says she has pushed legislation to 鈥済row our workforce by investing in apprenticeships and community colleges.鈥�
DeSpain spent three decades in the Air Force and Oregon Air National Guard and retired as a colonel. She has no elected experience but worked for state Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, in his law firm. She hammered Hoyle on the campaign trail for being a career politician and highlighted her ties to the now infamous cannabis company La Mota.
The national Republicans threw in money to support DeSpain, having identified Hoyle as vulnerable. DeSpain also pushed back on the notion that if she were elected it would result in diminished reproductive rights.
鈥淚 oppose a national abortion ban,鈥� DeSpain said in one television advertisement. 鈥淚VF (in vitro fertilization) helped create my family, so of course I support federal protections.鈥�
This story comes from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
Copyright 2024 Oregon Public Broadcasting
