Voters across Oregon's 4th Congressional District are deciding Tuesday whether to send Democratic incumbent Val Hoyle back to Washington or hand the seat to Republican challenger Monique DeSpain in a rematch of their 2024 contest. A third candidate, representing the Pacific Green Party, is also on the ballot, rounding out a race that has drawn national money and attention to a district stretching along Oregon's south coast and into the southern Willamette Valley.
The district includes Eugene and Corvallis and covers a politically mixed swath of the state, according to OregonLive. Of its 524,246 registered voters, about 31% are Democrats, 25% are Republicans and 36% are non-affiliated, the outlet reported, making it the kind of competitive terrain that national parties and outside groups have targeted repeatedly in recent election cycles, according to KLCC.
Hoyle, who also carries the Working Families Party line, is campaigning on protecting Social Security and Medicaid, raising the minimum wage and preserving access to abortion, according to KOIN. She has also voiced opposition to the war in Iran, per the station's reporting. DeSpain, the Republican and Libertarian nominee, is a retired Air Force colonel and attorney who spent 20 years as a Judge Advocate General's Corps attorney, according to a candidate forum recap from KLCC. She is campaigning on ending homelessness, restoring public safety, strengthening the economy and holding government accountable, per KOIN.
A Rematch With a Recent Precedent
Hoyle and DeSpain faced off once before, in 2024, when Hoyle won by nearly eight percentage points, according to OPB. Hoyle also cleared the Democratic primary field decisively this year, taking nearly 78% of the vote with Melissa Bird at nearly 19% and Daniel Bahlen at almost 3%, with that tally reflecting nearly 78% of votes counted shortly after 8 p.m. on primary night, per the same OPB report.
Also on the 2026 ballot is a Pacific Green and Progressive candidate identified by KOIN as a statistician who is campaigning on ending wars, protecting the planet, and holding wealthy interests accountable for affordability and homelessness. Sources differ on his first name: a City Club of Eugene forum recap from KLCC identified him as Justin Filip, while a KLCC report on the AI and data center debate referred to him as Justice Filip.
AI, Data Centers and Outside Money Dominate the Debate
Much of the race's policy sparring has centered on artificial intelligence and data centers, a flashpoint that OPB's coverage traced through the campaign. Hoyle said she has not accepted money from AI technology companies and does not control the independent expenditures spent on her behalf, according to OPB's reporting. DeSpain, for her part, has argued that communities must have the power to reject a data center if they determine it isn't right for them, the outlet reported.
The financial stakes behind that argument are considerable. Federal records show Hoyle had raised $1.2 million this election cycle compared with about $680,000 for DeSpain, according to OregonLive's account of the race. Outside spending has also shadowed the contest: OregonLive reported that a tech-funded super PAC subsidiary spent $292,419 supporting Hoyle's primary campaign, while KLCC separately reported $292,000 in independent expenditures from a pro-AI PAC during the May primary.
Candidates Clashed at a City Club Forum
Hoyle, DeSpain and the Pacific Green candidate appeared together at a City Club of Eugene forum on Oct. 16, according to KLCC's recap of the event, where the three laid out contrasting visions for the district. The forum came amid broader clashes over immigration and the candidates' own records, themes KLCC's reporting said have defined what it called a bitter rematch. A September analysis from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report found Democrats were on track to win the House majority this year, according to KLCC's reporting.
As of Tuesday evening, results in the 4th District race remained largely outstanding. An NBC News results page for the contest showed 0% of expected votes counted, with an estimated 330,000 votes still remaining at the time the page was captured.
