Democratic Representative Val Hoyle has secured victory in the race for a U.S. House seat representing Oregon, as announced by The Associated Press on Thursday. Hoyle, a first-term congresswoman, emerged victorious over Republican Monique DeSpain, who is an Air Force veteran.
Hoyle took over the seat previously held by longtime Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio in 2022. The election was one of the few closely contested races in typically Democratic-leaning Oregon. Despite the competition, Democrats maintained a significant fundraising advantage over their Republican counterparts. National Republicans opted to allocate resources to more closely contested races in other regions of the country.
While Hoyle's victory is notable, she has faced scrutiny in the past. Reports surfaced last year indicating that she had accepted campaign contributions from cannabis entrepreneurs who had received a taxpayer-funded grant under her oversight during her tenure as the commissioner of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) in 2022.
