Oregon Public Broadcasting

The contenders for this year’s Congressional races have filed financial reports about their fundraising and spending. April Baer reports the regional incumbents are not showing signs of weakness.

Long-time incumbents like Earl Blumenauer and Greg Walden have maintained comfortable six-figure leads over their challengers in the year-end filings.

Walden holds a key position in the Republican re-election effort, and remains Oregon’s top fundraiser.  He has close to $800,000 in the bank.

Fundraising picked up in the 5th district, where Republican challenger Scott Bruun actually topped Democratic incumbent Kurt Schrader for the quarter by over $7000.

But since Schrader began the quarter $460,000 ahead, Bruun still has a long way to go to catch up.

In Southwest Washington, Democrat Denny Heck leads the pack competing to replace retiring Congressman Brian Baird.

He’s got $212,000. Two Republicans, David Castillo and Jaime Herrera, pulled in $73,000 and $55,000 in donations, respectively.

Many believe the end of the current reporting period may provide more solid clues about which candidates can raise enough money to be competitive.

Washington’s 3rd District race has attracted a lot of national interest.