Oregon Public Broadcasting

As the 2008 campaign enters the home stretch, Oregon still has not yet seen a single penny in T.V. advertising money from either presidential candidate. But the Senate race here could turn out to be the most expensive in the country.

And the two candidates in the Senate race kept up the momentum heading into Election Day, as Ethan Lindsey reports.

The last-minute energy wasn’t limited to the presidential and senate races. All across Oregon, local candidates were making calls and knocking on doors to get-out-the-vote.

Bend Democrat Judy Stiegler is running to unseat Republican Chuck Burley. Stiegler’s campaign manager is Laurie Gould.

Laurie Gould: “They are the races that get the most attention, that they hear the most about. So we’ve worked as hard as we can to make sure they keep looking. Folks that haven’t been here a long time may not recognize names and not know that much about the local races. So we’ve tried to hit them. We’ve had a great ground game.”

As for the Senate candidates, Democrat Jeff Merkley dropped off his ballot in Portland, along with his wife and sitting Democratic Senator Ron Wyden. He also campaigned in Eugene and Corvallis.

Republican Gordon Smith visited Portland, Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Grants Pass, and delivered pizza to volunteers in Medford.

Both are scheduled to watch the returns at their respective parties in Portland.