PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — In their battle for Congress, national Republicans and Democrats are keenly eyeing the Pacific Northwest, where two of the most competitive U.S. House races in the country are playing out.
Oregon’s GOP-held 5th Congressional District and Washington state’s Democratic-held 3rd Congressional District are considered toss-ups, meaning either party has a good chance of winning.
Both districts are purple — meaning a blend of Republican red and Democratic blue — and feature freshman incumbents who narrowly flipped their seats in the 2022 midterms. And with turnout typically higher in presidential elections than in midterms, political experts say they’ll be watching to see which candidates are able to mobilize more voters — especially moderates and independents.
“These races could determine who controls the House of Representatives in the next Congress,” said Chandler James, associate professor of political science at the University of Oregon. “The Pacific Northwest is kind of where the center of a lot of action is.”