What Went Down During The May 17 Primary Elections
Oregon’s 6th District played host to the most expensive Democratic primary this cycle, but Carrick Flynn, the beneficiary of over $11 million in support from cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, is in a clear second place behind state Rep. Andrea Salinas with about 30 percent of the vote counted. Salinas leads, 37-19 percent.
And in Oregon’s 4th District, ABC News projects Val Hoyle as the Democratic nomination. Hoyle — who was previously the majority leader of the Oregon House of Representatives — had support from many in the Democratic establishment, including sitting Oregon senator Jeff Merkley. Hoyle’s main competitor, climate change activist Doyle Canning, was endorsed by several regional progressive organizations, including the local branches of the Democratic Socialists of America and Sunrise Movement.
Ultimately, it wasn’t even close. With 47 percent reporting, Hoyle has 70 percent of the vote, while Canning has 15 percent.
Now that polls have closed in Oregon and we await the results, let’s look at the colorful field of seven Republicans squaring off for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. That includes a number of Big Lie believers, and even a QAnon adherent! You may remember Jo Rae Perkins from the last time she ran for Senate in 2020, where she garnered attention for promoting QAnon — the conspiracy theory that there is a secret underground cabal of Democratic elite satanic pedophiles who run the country:
Perkins is running again and this time she is also endorsing other conspiracy theories, including anti-vax sentiments and the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen. In fact, Perkins even attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol — she told a local news station that she marched to the Capitol but did not enter it.
There’s also Jason Beebe, currently the Mayor of Prineville, Oregon. When FiveThirtyEight reached out to ask him whether he believed the 2020 election was legitimate, he told us he believed Trump won the election and that “There is so much proof of election fraud that it would be hard for me to believe the elections were legitimate.” And Ibra Taher, who has tweeted Big Lie conspiracy theories: