Oregon Public Broadcasting

The race for Oregon's 5th congressional district has cranked up a notch. April Baer reports that one Republican candidate is raising the stakes for campaign contributions.

Mike Erickson is locked in a hot competition with Kevin Mannix for the 5th's Republican nomination.

This week Erickson made a loan to his campaign that triggers the so-called Millionaire's Amendment.

The federal campaign finance law now permits Mannix to triple what he can raise from individual contributors. Mannix is downplaying what that might do for him.

Kevin Mannix: "The reality is it's not two months before the election. It's just over 2 weeks before the election. We'll go back to some folks, but it's not going to give us an opportunity to raise more money."

Jeff Harvey with the Erickson campaign frames the loan as liberating for the candidate.

Jeff Harvey: "He's not beholden to special interest groups or big corporations. He's trying to do this so he's held accountable by the people." 

The last poll made public showed Erickson and Mannix nearly neck-in-neck.