Jeff
Merkley

Who they are, where they came from

Jeff Merkley is the junior United States Senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since January 2009. He represents Oregon as a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his Senate service, Merkley served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, representing the 47th district, which covers central Multnomah County on the eastern side of Portland. During the final two years of his tenure in the state legislature, he served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008. In the Senate, Merkley has sponsored legislation across a range of policy areas. He sponsored the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act (S.138), which was enacted into law, and the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (S.1351), which also was enacted. He has introduced the Equality Act (S.5), which addresses anti-discrimination protections. His sponsored legislation also includes measures related to public lands and the environment, such as the Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act (S.945), the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act (S.1926), the Wildfire Resilient Communities Act (S.2208), the Deschutes River Conservancy Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S.1200), and the Soil CARE Act of 2026 (S.3820). On health care, he has sponsored the Choose Medicare Act (S.2032), the End Price Gouging for Medications Act (S.1753), the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2025 (S.2519), and the School Access to Naloxone Act of 2026 (S.3588). Additional sponsored bills address housing (S.3930), human rights (S.288, S.2525), international financial institutions (S.3123), and monarch butterfly habitat (S.2128).

What they’ve done lately

Where the campaign funds come from

Most of Merkley's $3.8M in cycle receipts came from individuals (77.2%), with itemized contributions accounting for 69.7% of individual giving. PACs contributed 10.4% of total receipts; the top PAC contributor was Progress for Oregon at $115,600, followed by a cluster of leadership PACs — Victory Now PAC, Purpose PAC, Narragansett Bay PAC, Blue Hen PAC, and others — each at $10,000. Top employer concentrations include Corson & Johnson, Agri-Star Inc., and Powell's Books. Outside independent expenditures totaled $1.3M opposing Merkley, led by Freedom Partners Action Fund Inc. ($1.0M) and American Future Fund Political Action ($165,000), against $161K in supporting expenditures from Humane Society Legislative Fund and Human Rights Campaign PAC.