Election Day, Nov 3 6 daysSenate D 85%House D 97%Governors D 86%Forecast updated Oct 28
2026 forecast ยท Oregon Senate

Jeff Merkley is all but certain to win Oregon's Senate seat.

Jeff Merkley vs David Brock Smith. The model has Merkley ahead by 24.4 points, winning 100 percent of 2,000 simulated elections.

Safe DModel D +24.4Updated October 28, 2026
Jeff Merkley
Democrat
60.4%
1,242,003 projected votes
David Brock Smith
Republican
36.0%
740,799 projected votes
100%Merkley
0%Smith
Merkley all but certainEach square is one simulated election night, Merkley wins about 100 of 100
RatingSafe D100% chance for Merkley
Model marginD +24.4No polls in the race
80 percent rangeD +32.8 to D +15.82,000 simulations
Projected votes2,055,143Merkley 60.4%

The county map

Four ways to read the state: margin, shift from 2024, vote bubbles and turnout

Oregon Senate by county

Baker CountyBenton CountyClackamas CountyClatsop CountyColumbia CountyCoos CountyCrook CountyCurry CountyDeschutes CountyDouglas CountyGilliam CountyGrant CountyHarney CountyHood River CountyJackson CountyJefferson CountyJosephine CountyKlamath CountyLake CountyLane CountyLincoln CountyLinn CountyMalheur CountyMarion CountyMorrow CountyMultnomah CountyPolk CountySherman CountyTillamook CountyUmatilla CountyUnion CountyWallowa CountyWasco CountyWashington CountyWheeler CountyYamhill County
D +40R +40Click a county to zoom ยท arrow keys step through counties by size
Where the margin is won
Multnomah County: Merkley +282,582Washington County: Merkley +125,217Lane County: Merkley +65,038Clackamas County: Merkley +44,974Deschutes County: Merkley +26,919Benton County: Merkley +23,156Marion County: Merkley +10,039Lincoln County: Merkley +8,283Hood River County: Merkley +5,509Clatsop County: Merkley +4,692Jackson County: Merkley +4,403Polk County: Merkley +1,469Tillamook County: Merkley +1,287Yamhill County: Merkley +996Wasco County: Merkley +415Douglas County: Smith +19,535Klamath County: Smith +11,948Linn County: Smith +11,461Josephine County: Smith +9,565Umatilla County: Smith +9,295Crook County: Smith +6,676Union County: Smith +4,892Coos County: Smith +4,863Malheur County: Smith +4,362Baker County: Smith +3,955Lake County: Smith +2,551Jefferson County: Smith +2,519Grant County: Smith +2,339Harney County: Smith +2,250Morrow County: Smith +1,971Columbia County: Smith +1,477Curry County: Smith +1,466Wallowa County: Smith +1,286Sherman County: Smith +577Gilliam County: Smith +421Wheeler County: Smith +368
Merkley +604,979 net votes from 15 countiesStatewide D +24.4, a 501,202 vote marginSmith +103,777 net votes from 21 counties

Vote share

Each candidate's projected share and the range of 80 percent of simulations

Jeff MerkleyDemocrat ยท 100% to win
60.4%
David Brock SmithRepublican ยท 0% to win
36.0%

Scale runs from 25 to 75 percent. The dot is the forecast, the band is the 80 percent range and the brighter tick marks 50 percent.

Projected statewide vote

2,055,143 votes
CandidateVotesShare
Jeff Merkley D1,242,00360.4%
David Brock Smith R740,79936.0%
Gary Dye L37,4041.8%
Brett Smith G34,9371.7%
Total2,055,143100%

Each candidate's expected vote in the On Point simulation, at the forecast's projected turnout.

Every simulated outcome

2,000 sims
D +45.4: 3 simulationsD +44.2: 2 simulationsD +42.9: 0 simulationsD +41.6: 11 simulationsD +40.3: 16 simulationsD +39.1: 15 simulationsD +37.8: 18 simulationsD +36.5: 21 simulationsD +35.2: 32 simulationsD +34.0: 56 simulationsD +32.7: 72 simulationsD +31.4: 97 simulationsD +30.1: 94 simulationsD +28.9: 114 simulationsD +27.6: 150 simulationsD +26.3: 153 simulationsD +25.0: 161 simulationsD +23.8: 145 simulationsD +22.5: 155 simulationsD +21.2: 142 simulationsD +19.9: 113 simulationsD +18.7: 93 simulationsD +17.4: 88 simulationsD +16.1: 68 simulationsD +14.8: 52 simulationsD +13.6: 38 simulationsD +12.3: 27 simulationsD +11.0: 20 simulationsD +9.7: 16 simulationsD +8.5: 9 simulationsD +7.2: 6 simulationsD +5.9: 3 simulationsD +4.6: 2 simulationsD +3.4: 1 simulationsD +2.1: 3 simulationsD +0.8: 3 simulationsR +0.5: 0 simulationsR +1.7: 0 simulationsR +3.0: 0 simulationsR +4.3: 1 simulationsD +46.1R +4.9

80 percent of simulations fall between D +32.8 and D +15.8. Negative margins are Democratic wins.

The trend

Each side's chance of winning over the forecast's recent updates

0%25%50%75%100%100% Merkley0% Smith17 updates agoToday

Polling

Every poll in the average, and how the model reads it

Polls of the race

PollsterSampleAgeMargin
On Point averageWeighted averageNo polls

Each margin is the poll as the pollster published it. The forecast counts every poll after its house effect and the undecided split, which is what the trail above shows; hover a margin for the counted value. Lean R and Lean D mark partisan leaning firms.

Model margin
Merkley +24.4
Chance of winning
Jeff Merkley100%
David Brock Smith0%
Simulated vote
Jeff Merkley60.4%
David Brock Smith36.0%
Gary Dye1.8%
Brett Smith1.7%
How the model gets there
Partisan leanD +14.8
FundamentalsD +24.2
With pollsD +24.4

Who has endorsed

29 public endorsements in this race, each with where it was reported.

Jeff Merkley29
  • Willamette WeekPortland newspapersource
  • Oregon AFL-CIOState labor federationsource
  • League of Conservation VotersEnvironmental groupsource
  • Planned Parenthood Action FundReproductive rights groupsource
  • Our RevolutionProgressive groupsource
  • End Citizens UnitedCampaign finance reform PACsource
  • J Street PACPro Israel, pro peace PACsource
  • Peace ActionAnti war groupsource
Every endorsement on Watchdog

How we got here

From the state's partisan lean to the forecast, one stage at a time

D +29R +29Partisan leanthe state's baselineD +14.8Fundamentalsapproval, economy, candidatesD +24.2With pollsno pollsD +24.4

Who votes for whom

Estimated vote by group from the model's simulated electorate

Estimated vote by group

model crosstabs
GroupShareMerkleySmith
GenderMen47%56.040.5
Women53%64.232.2
Age18 to 2913%65.331.1
30 to 4422%61.235.2
45 to 6433%59.237.2
65+32%59.037.5
RaceWhite86%58.038.4
Black2%84.512.1
Latino5%68.927.6
Asian and other7%77.019.4
Race and genderWhite men39%52.643.8
White women46%62.533.8
Latino men3%66.130.3
Latino women2%72.624.0
All other races7%77.019.4

Every county

The projected vote in each county, largest first

Projected vote by county

36 counties
CountyMerkleySmithOtherTotalMargin
Statewide1,242,001740,79972,3432,055,143D +24.4
Multnomah County330,83548,25313,585392,673D +72.0
Washington County193,73068,5139,428271,671D +46.1
Clackamas County128,71583,7417,208219,664D +20.5
Lane County125,74160,7036,316192,760D +33.7
Marion County72,94362,9045,346141,193D +7.1
Deschutes County68,02841,1093,703112,840D +23.9
Jackson County55,61051,2073,859110,676D +4.0
Linn County25,29936,7602,78664,845R +17.7
Douglas County17,41536,9502,03556,400R +34.6
Yamhill County25,34824,3522,12051,820D +1.9
Benton County34,75611,6001,61747,973D +48.3
Josephine County16,64326,2081,97144,822R +21.3
Polk County21,58420,1151,50743,206D +3.4
Coos County13,55618,4191,22633,201R +14.7
Klamath County9,62421,5721,23432,430R +36.8
Umatilla County9,19618,49191528,602R +32.5
Columbia County12,68214,1591,26328,104R +5.3
Lincoln County17,3299,0461,03627,411D +30.2
Clatsop County12,5567,86473721,157D +22.2
Tillamook County7,8546,56750714,928D +8.6
Crook County3,72510,40151314,639R +45.6
Union County3,9368,82841013,174R +37.1
Curry County5,6137,07946013,152R +11.2
Wasco County6,0545,63944712,140D +3.4
Hood River County8,3132,80435311,470D +48.0
Jefferson County3,9436,46236610,771R +23.4
Malheur County2,8877,24934510,481R +41.6
Baker County2,3486,3032958,946R +44.2
Wallowa County1,5812,8671054,553R +28.3
Morrow County1,1073,0781624,347R +45.3
Grant County8503,1891264,165R +56.2
Lake County6883,2391274,054R +62.9
Harney County8073,0571293,993R +56.4
Sherman County209786421,037R +55.6
Gilliam County287708331,028R +41.0
Wheeler County20957731817R +45.0

Projected 2026 votes from the On Point simulation: each county's expected turnout times its simulated vote share. Totals may differ from the race total by rounding.

On Point on YouTubeThe Oregon Senate race, explained on YouTubeForecast breakdowns, the polls and election night coverage on the On Point channel.Subscribe
Methodology
Every county is rebuilt by simulating voters going to the polls, 2,000 times, from On Point Polling survey data, past results, and the polling average. How the model works.