PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Clerks slogged through a mountain of ballots Oregonians turned in at the last minute, but the outcome of the U.S. Senate race between challenger Jeff Merkley and incumbent Gordon Smith remains too close to call.
Late Wednesday, only about three-fourths of the expected vote had been counted and the two candidates had swapped narrow leads. That raised the possibility the outcome of one of the nation’s most-watched Senate races might not be known until Thursday.
However, The Oregonian called the race for Merkley at 6 p.m. last night based on a mathematical analysis of the remaining 340,000 votes still being counted out of a total 1.8 million votes cast statewide.The counting in Multnomah County was going particularly slow.
Merkley, the Oregon House speaker, is a Democrat. So he was expected to pick up strength as the returns came in from Multnomah, which includes Portland. It is the state’s most populous county and a liberal bastion.
Despite The Oregonian‘s projection, neither Merkley nor Smith was ready to say the race is over.
Merkley said he felt good about where he stood in the voting and was hopeful he would be declared the winner Thursday. “I am very optimistic about the outcome. I’m looking forward to having it resolved,” Merkley said.
Smith kept a low profile as his camp waited to see whether the still-to-be-tallied ballots might turn things in his favor.
“Our campaign remains cautiously optimistic and eagerly awaits the counting of ballots,” said Brooks Kochvar, manager of Smith’s re-election campaign.
Multnomah County elections officials said their count could last well into the evening.
The long finish followed a tough race between Merkley and the two-term Republican incumbent Smith. It was the most expensive race Oregon has ever seen, with total spending estimated at more than $40 million.
Counting Merkley’s projected win, Democrats raised their majority in the Senate to 57 of the 100 members, with three other races still unresolved. A runoff election is to be held in Georgia, a re-count is scheduled in Minnesota, and the outcome in Alaska is still unclear clear.
���-Additional reporting by Owen R. Smith