Jeff Merkley

This is part of a series of stories on the candidates running in the May 19 primary election. Ballots will be mailed to voters April 29.

A state senator, a former nominee and perennial candidate, a businessman and a retired civil engineer are among the seven Republicans who are making their case to voters in the May 19 primary election to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, in November.

Merkley is being challenged by a single other Democrat, retired electrical engineer Paul Damian Wells, who has also run for Oregon Secretary of State five times.

Merkley was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008. He previously served in the Oregon House from 1999 to 2009. He was last reelected in 2020 with 56.9% of the vote.

Here's what to know about the candidates. They are listed in the order in which candidate names will appear on the ballot based on the Secretary of State’s random alphabet ordering.

Deborah Brown points to an engineering background

Deborah Brown, a retired civil engineer and former federal auditor, said she entered the race out of frustration with the direction of the country and Oregon under Merkley’s tenure.

“Jeff Merkley has been in there for 17 years, and in that time, Oregon’s just gone down, down, down,” Brown said.

Brown said she believes she is the Republican Oregonians need who can defeat Merkley in November and argued she can appeal to voters through what she described as common-sense problem-solving.

Her professional background includes engineering work for private firms and federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Army Corps of Engineers, and Department of the Treasury. She said her 20 years of service as a civil servant make her familiar with how the government functions.

Brown said her top policy priorities are lowering the cost of living and improving housing affordability.

Among her proposals: cutting the federal income tax rate in half for individuals earning $150,000 or less and married couples earning $300,000 or less to immediately increase take-home pay for working Americans.

Brown also called for “fair elections,” backing the federal SAVE Act, or the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, as a starting point, while advocating for in-person voting, paper ballots and eliminating voting machines, which she claimed are vulnerable to manipulation. Oregon is a vote-by-mail state.

She said her experience in computer programming would also help her address artificial intelligence regulation in Congress.

Additional priorities Brown highlighted include increasing logging to reduce wildfire risk, strengthening education, reducing crime and addressing homelessness.

“As an engineer, I’m going to bring a lot of common sense to Congress,” Brown said.

Russ McAlmond highlights an outsider perspective

Russ McAlmond is a businessman also seeking the Republican nomination.

He serves as executive director and founder of the Center for Human Equality and the chief investment officer of Rogue Russell Investments in southern Oregon.

He has positioned himself as an alternative to career politicians and said he would bring business-minded solutions to national and state issues.

McAlmond holds two master's degrees and two bachelor's degrees. His family moved from Washington to Portland when he was 12.

McAlmond said he would target economic concerns, government accountability, and other conservative policy priorities.

He has argued voters are looking for a fresh perspective and leadership outside the political establishment. He previously served on the Josephine County Public Safety Budget Committee.

McAlmond also highlighted his status as a U.S. Marine veteran and human rights activist. His voter's pamphlet statement states that he knows how to fight for "all Oregonians."

He is a financial expert, he said, and would aim to reduce taxes at the state and national levels. McAlmond is also in favor of introducing term limits and promised to serve no more than two terms.

"I'm not running to become a career politician," McAlmond said.

McAlmond said he also wants a Human Rights Act to be passed, which he described as based on the Declaration of Independence's proclamation that "all are created equal with unalienable rights," though he's clear that he believes Democrats have "gone very wrong" by going down "the DEI path and critical race theory" which he believes groups people and judges them instead of promoting equality.

Jo Rae Perkins emphasizes faith, conservative platform

Jo Rae Perkins, who previously ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Oregon, said she decided to run again because she believes it is her calling.

“The reason I’m running, and the reason I’ve run every time, is this is what I 100% believe is what God has placed on my heart to do,” Perkins said.

Perkins was born in Virginia but has lived in Oregon since 1975. She received a bachelor's degree in political science from Oregon State University.

Perkins said she's committed to a conservative platform and backing policies aligned with President Donald Trump. She was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, but has said she never joined the mob that breached the Capitol.

She said she will advocate for ending Oregon’s sanctuary state policies, addressing wildfire prevention, protecting rural hospitals and reforming Medicare Advantage.

Perkins said she is in favor of congressional term limits and reducing taxes on the trucking industry.

What’s different this cycle? Perkins said she’s taking a more proactive approach and pointed to "proactive bills" she has drafted and posted on her campaign website. They include bills like classifying unlawful entry as a felony, while keeping visa overstays as civil removal proceedings, and a bill that would make Medicare plans portable across counties so retirees, for example, could keep seeing their doctors even if they live in one Oregon county but receive care in another.

"Hopefully I can be a catalyst and see some real changes from the federal side and just get us back to what we're supposed to be doing," Perkins said.

David Brock Smith touts legislative experience, rural advocacy

Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, represents Oregon’s 1st Senate District. He announced his candidacy on March 3 and touted his lifetime of public service and his bipartisan problem-solving record.

His career in public office began in his hometown of Port Orford, where he served on the chamber of commerce, city council and school board before becoming a Curry County Commissioner in 2012. He was elected to the Oregon House in 2017 and appointed to the Oregon Senate in 2023.

Smith said his experience at different levels of government gives him a broad understanding of the issues facing Oregonians.

“I believe that I can take the culmination of all that I’ve learned in my various roles in public service" to Washington, D.C., Smith said.

Smith said he wants to bring a rural perspective to the U.S. Senate. His top priorities include forest management and wildfire prevention, addiction treatment, infrastructure investment, and expanding energy production and transmission.

Smith criticized what he described as “environmental hypocrisy” in forest policy, arguing that unmanaged forests have contributed to catastrophic wildfires and carbon emissions that Democrats have aimed to reduce. He highlighted his work on wildfire preparedness committees and legislation related to firefighting and fuel reduction, including his role as co-chair of the Council of State Governments West's Wildfire & Disaster Preparedness Committee.

Smith also pointed to his role in efforts to reform and repeal parts of Oregon’s voter-approved Measure 110 as examples of his experience addressing addiction and homelessness and said his legislative relationships and ability to work across the aisle distinguish him from other candidates.

“I am known in the Oregon State Legislature as somebody who identifies problems and comes up with solutions,” he said.

“As your next United States Senator, my mission is simple: Put Oregon First. It’s time for leadership rooted in service – not headlines or personal ambition. That’s what I’ve done my entire career, and that’s what I’ll continue doing in Washington," Smith said in his campaign announcement.

Who are the other candidates?

Three other Republicans will be on the ballot in the May 19 primary. Only one of them submitted a statement to the voter's pamphlet: Brent Barker, though he did not respond to an interview request from the Statesman Journal.

Barker was raised in Aloha and holds bachelor's and master's degrees from California State University. He is an investment real estate principal broker and a business owner.

He unsuccessfully ran for Oregon Secretary of State in 2024.

In his voter's pamphlet statement, Barker said he would restore integrity and respect to Oregon and was committed to ending sanctuary crime laws, supporting the SAVE ACT, forging "business alliances" to create new jobs, securing federal infrastructure funds, reducing the high cost of living, and limiting hedge fund investments in housing.

Barker said he supports the "America First Agenda."

Other candidates include unemployed David A Burch and Timothy Skelton, who described himself as an armed security professional born and raised in Sandy.

How much money have candidates raised?

Merkley has far outraised any Republican in the race to unseat him. Campaign finance records show he had $6.58 million cash on hand as of March 31. Perkins had $1,056, and Smith had $23,795. The other candidates have not reported receiving any contributions this quarter.