Andrea Salinas defeated Teresa Alonso Leon, Carrick Flynn, Loretta Smith, Cody Reynolds, Matt West, and three other candidates in the May 17 Democratic primary for Oregon's 6th Congressional District. This district was created as a result of the 2020 census. Click here for more information about apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census.

At the time of the election, Salinas was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 38. She was appointed to the seat in 2017.^[1] She was elected to a full term in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. Salinas campaigned on strengthening reproductive rights, fighting against climate change, and affordable healthcare. On her campaign website, Salinas said, "I think Washington could learn a thing or two from what we’ve done in Oregon about the power of finding common ground, working hard, and actually delivering on the issues that matter most to families: affordable health care, a fair economy, and an environment that is protected and cherished for generations to come."^[2]

At the time of the election, Alonso Leon was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 22. She was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2018 and 2020. She campaigned on education, universal healthcare, strengthening Oregon's economy. On her campaign website, Alonso Leon said: "As one of your congressional leaders, I’ll put small business and working families first, prioritize education and make sure that all our families have access to affordable and accessible healthcare. I will work to ensure that we are investing in public education, making college more affordable and building strong job training programs so that everyone succeeds after high school or earning a high school equivalency certificate such as a GED."^[3]

Flynn had worked as a research associate at the Center for the Governance of AI, a nonprofit organization based in Oxford, England, and as a research faculty with Georgetown University.^[4] Flynn said, "I want to get back to the very basics. I would like to get a strong economy, I would like to prevent foreseeable, preventable disasters, and I would like to ensure that every family has an opportunity to thrive by finding high-paying work, good benefits, and the opportunity to get savings."^[5] He campaigned on what he calls a green economy, fixing congress, and preventing pandemics.^[6]

Smith served on the Multnomah County Commission from 2011 to 2018. Smith campaigned on creating better paying jobs, expanding access to affordable housing, affordable healthcare, and protecting the environment. Smith said she was running "for Congress in Oregon's new 6th Congressional District to stand up for equal opportunities for all so that every Oregon family, small business, and community can not just survive, but thrive."^[7]

Reynolds served in the U.S. Army and co-founded a financial services company. He ran on universal healthcare, affordable housing, job training and the economy, and implementing policies to combat climate change. Reynolds said: "I find that too many career politicians are too busy and interested in self-dealing, and posturing for their next re-election to enact meaningful legislation. For these reasons, and with the love and support of my family and friends, I announce my candidacy for the 6th Congressional district."^[8] Reynolds said he was self-funding his campaign so he didn't have to spend time soliciting donations.^[8]

West worked as an engineer with Intel. He campaigned on his experience as a scientist, saying "science is the key to solving some of our biggest challenges - from tackling climate change, providing energy, addressing current and future pandemics, ending food scarcity, and helping to raise people out of poverty — scientific-based solutions will save lives and protect families."^[9] He also campaigned on affordable healthcare, racial justice, and using decentralized finance tools like cryptocurrency to create an equitable financial system.^[9]

Ricky Barajas, Greg Goodwin, and Kathleen Harder also ran in the primary.

Ricky Barajas (D), Carrick Flynn (D), Kathleen Harder (D), and Matt West (D) completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Click on a candidate's name to view that candidate's responses.

This district was one of seven new U.S. House districts created as a result of apportionment after the 2020 census. Click here to read more.

This page focuses on Oregon's 6th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrea Salinas	36.8	26,101
		Carrick Flynn	18.4	13,052
		Steven Cody Reynolds	11.2	7,951
		Loretta Smith	10.0	7,064
		Matt West	8.0	5,658
		Kathleen Harder	7.8	5,510
		Teresa Alonso Leon	6.5	4,626
		Ricky Barajas	0.4	292
	Submit photo	Greg Goodwin	0.3	217
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	508

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,979
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Ricky Barajas

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "My name is Ricardo (Ricky) Barajas. 36 years old. I have a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Oregon and a Master in Public Policy from Portland State University. My government experience consists of being a candidate in 2018 and 2020 for Oregon 1st Congressional District. I have also volunteered for many political figures; Barbara Boxer for Senate in 2004, Hillary for President in 2008 and 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Investing in America has been my number one priority since entering politics. I support President Biden Build Back Better bill. Although the bill was too big to pass, we can still pass much legislation from the BBB to improve the daily lives of all Americans. My promise to the people of my district and the country is to support any bill where every day Americans need support and resources to get ahead. We cannot allow the gap between the middle-class and the top 1% to get bigger. We must act now, and I intend to do so.

We are lacking one crucial characteristic in Congress, honesty. We need to be honest about what we can accomplish, not only what sounds good on paper. Many candidates enter politics promising change. However, their transformation is nowhere near in sight. I have made a commitment and an oath to my constituents of Oregon- allow me to serve to accomplish great things together. I will not fail you.

Gridlock in Washington D.C. has hit an all-time high. America deserves better, and we must elect both Democrats and Republicans who will do the people's will. I am running as a Democrat. However, I believe we can have a balance in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans fighting the good cause and on the same side, one day.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Carrick Flynn

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Carrick grew up in poverty in Vernonia, Oregon. When he was young, a flood destroyed his house and left his family homeless. Carrick did not expect to go to college until the Ford Family Foundation intervened. They awarded him a full scholarship to attend the University of Oregon where he studied economics with the hope of helping others to escape poverty. Excelling academically, Carrick went on to Yale Law School. From there, he worked in economic development and job creation. He went on to co-found the Centre for the Governance of Artificial Intelligence at Oxford University and joined Georgetown University as Research Faculty. Carrick worked on pandemic preparedness and biosecurity years before the pandemic. He advised Congress and the White House on pandemic preparedness and the creation of technology jobs. This included legislation which should create thousands of jobs in Oregon. Carrick never planned to run for office but with the creation of the new district in Oregon, his home, he recognized the incredible potential to serve his community and ensure no other child has to go through what he did. If elected, Carrick will focus on the creation of good, green jobs, and pandemic recovery and preparedness."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Creating good, green jobs.

Recovering from COVID and preventing future pandemics.

Results. Not Politics.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Kathleen Harder

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Dr. Kathleen Harder is running for Congress to build a healthier Oregon. In medical school, she worked multiple jobs to pay for her education while raising her children. For the last 30 years she has cared for thousands of patients and been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic serving patients in Salem. She is running for Congress because she knows firsthand the problems with our fragmented health care system and how our health care system works so poorly – for patients, families and health care workers. As the former chair of the Oregon Medical Board and Board Member of Planned Parenthood Advocates for Oregon she is outraged at the constant attacks on reproductive freedom and voting rights. In Congress, Kathleen will prioritize tackling the homelessness crisis including access to stable, affordable housing, mental health providers and substance abuse programs. This is personal for Kathleen, as her own father struggled with mental illness and addiction and never got the help he needed. Oregon recently ranked 49th in the country in access to behavioral health services. Dr. Harder knows that we need a healthier Oregon and will take the practice of establishing trust quickly and advocating for her patients to Congress to advocate for her constituents. "

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Health care is a right, not a privilege. I’m a strong supporter of universal health care and we must work so that every American has guaranteed, quality health care. As a first step, I support expanding Medicare as a low-cost option available to everyone. Medicare should negotiate all drug prices and ensure vision, dental, and hearing coverage is available to all enrollees. We must work towards universal coverage for all Americans.

We must come up with strategies across our communities to mitigate this crisis from transitional housing, access to stable and affordable housing, expanded mental health services and substance abuse recovery programs, to job training and wrap-around services that help get people back on their feet.

I’m a doctor and I believe in science. We must address climate change not only for the direct impacts on our community, but for the businesses whose bottom line is threatened, local workers whose jobs are on the line, and parents and grandparents who want to leave our children a habitable planet.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Teresa Alonso Leon

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Oregon House of Representatives District 22 (Assumed office: 2017)
Woodburn City Council (2013-2017)

Biography: Alonso Leon graduated with a bachelore's degree in social science from Western Oregon University and a master's degree in public administration from Portland State University.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Alonso Leon said she would "always fight for Oregon’s students, parents, and educators so that our children all have a fair chance to succeed" and "prioritize job training and post-secondary educational opportunities for everyone, not just those who elect to go to a four-year college."

Alonso Leon said she would "focus on resolving inequalities in health care so that every Oregonians has access to affordable and high-quality health care."

Alonso Leon said she would "fight for good jobs with living wages, including a raise to the federal minimum wage" and "fix our broken system to achieve pay equity for women and people of color."

Show sources

Sources: Teresa Alonso Leon 2022 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed March 27, 2022; Teresa Alonso Leon 2022 campaign website, "About Teresa," accessed March 27, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Steven Cody Reynolds

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography: Reynolds earned a bachelore's degree in engineering psychology in 2003 from the United States Military Academy West Point. He served as an infantryman from 1997 to 1999 and, after graduating from West Point, as a commissioned Air Defense Officer until 2008. His professional experience includes starting a financial services company.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Reynolds said "We don’t have a choice at this point. We have to have health care, and I believe that one of the ways that we can actually start addressing these burdens on the families of Oregonians is through policy decisions. The easiest example is allowing for Medicare to negotiate for better rates for medications and treatments by leveraging the size of the Medicare system’s purchasing power."

Reynolds said, "I know how difficult it can be to find an affordable place to live, and that’s why I want to increase the availability of mixed income development as a means of providing more options to people of all economic backgrounds."

Reynolds said that when he is elected to Congress, he will "focus on real job training in skills that are needed by the Oregon business community."

Show sources

Sources: Cody Reynolds 2022 campaign website, "Issues," accessed March 27, 2022; Cody Reynolds 2022 campaign website, "About Cody," accessed March 27, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Andrea Salinas

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Oregon House of Representatives District 38 (Assumed office: 2017)

Biography: Salinas earned a bachelore's degree in psychology from the University of Berkeley. Her professional experience includes working as a lobbyist, a legislative aid in the U.S. House and Senate, and political consultant.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Salinas said she was running because she believes "Washington could learn a thing or two from what we’ve done in Oregon about the power of finding common ground, working hard, and actually delivering on the issues that matter most to families: affordable health care, a fair economy, and an environment that is protected and cherished for generations to come."

Salinas said she will work on figuring out "what this new era of workforce and jobs looks like," since people are concerned about going back to jobs that weren't satisfying or didn't pay enough or didn't provide enough benefits."

Salinas said "the homeless and houseless crisis is something that is really worrisome to people" and that she believes "there is definitely a role for Congress" in solving that issue.

Show sources

Sources: Andrea Salinas 2022 campaign website, "Meet Andrea Salinas," accessed March 27, 2022; KATU2, "State Rep. Andrea Salinas running for Oregon's new 6th Congressional District," March 20, 2022; The Oregonian, "Salinas sworn in as newest state representative," January 9, 2019; Andrea Salinas 2022 campaign website, "Meet Andrea Salinas," accessed March 27, 2022; Oregon State Legislature, "Representative Andrea Salinas - Biography," accessed March 27, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Loretta Smith

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Multnomah County Commission District 2 (2012-2018)

Biography: Smith earned a bachelore's degree in communications from Oregon State University in 1987. Her professional experience includes working as a staffer and field representative for Rep. Ron Wyden (D) from 1996 to 2010 and in 2019. She also founded a government relations firm in 2019.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Smith said she was "laser focused on strengthening our local economy by helping small businesses grow and succeed, ending tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas, and investing in infrastructure, including modern transportation, broadband, and green energy, to build a healthier, more resilient Oregon."

Smith said she'll "work to reduce the prices of goods by repairing our supply chain so we can produce supplies and medicines here, and take on corporations that are inflating prices to unfairly profit off of the pandemic as Oregon’s next Congresswoman."

Smith said "she authored a Medicare for All resolution on the Multnomah Commission and will take that same fight for comprehensive, universal health care to Congress."

Show sources

Sources: Loretta Smith 2022 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed March 27, 2022; Loretta Smith 2022 campaign website, "Meet Loretta," accessed March 27, 2022; Loretta Smith LinkedIn, "Experience," accessed March 27, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Matt West

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Matt West is a scientist from Tigard. Matt grew up in a Union family and worked his way through college--earning his PhD researching groundbreaking renewable energy technologies. Now an engineer at Intel, he is running for Congress to fight for working people against corporate monopolies and billionaires. In Congress, Matt will take on the big oil lobbyists to pass a Green New Deal, work to lift wages so everyone can afford to live in Oregon, push for a single-payer Medicare system, and expand Social Security. He has never taken contributions from big corporations, and he never will."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Combating climate change is my top priority. I am a scientist committed to bold solutions to protect our planet.

Billionaires must pay their fair share in taxes instead of flying off into space.

We must protect democracy and prosecute Trump and those who sought to overturn it on January 6th

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Oregon District 6 in 2022.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Race ratings: Oregon's 6th Congressional District election, 2022
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 8, 2022	November 1, 2022	October 25, 2022	October 18, 2022
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Tilt Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

U.S. Congress campaign reporting schedule, 2022
Report	Close of books	Filing deadline
Year-end 2021	12/31/2021	1/31/2022
April quarterly	3/31/2022	4/15/2022
July quarterly	6/30/2022	7/15/2022
October quarterly	9/30/2022	10/15/2022
Pre-general	10/19/2022	10/27/2022
Post-general	11/28/2022	12/08/2022
Year-end 2022	12/31/2022	1/31/2023

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Ricky Barajas	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Carrick Flynn	Democratic Party	$1,147,786	$1,147,786	$0	As of July 15, 2022
Greg Goodwin	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Kathleen Harder	Democratic Party	$480,113	$473,917	$6,196	As of December 31, 2022
Teresa Alonso Leon	Democratic Party	$106,657	$104,016	$2,641	As of December 31, 2022
Steven Cody Reynolds	Democratic Party	$2,708,063	$2,700,899	$7,164	As of December 31, 2022
Andrea Salinas	Democratic Party	$3,405,187	$3,398,903	$6,285	As of December 31, 2022
Loretta Smith	Democratic Party	$360,455	$359,837	$618	As of September 30, 2022
Matt West	Democratic Party	$1,335,533	$1,335,533	$0	As of August 8, 2022
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2022. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. * Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2022
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Oregon	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	1,000^[19]	$100.00	3/8/2022	Source
Oregon	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	1% of the average number of votes cast for all candidates for presidential electors at the last presidential election in all congressional districts	N/A	8/30/2022	Source

2020 presidential results by Congressional district, Oregon
District	2022 district		Political predecessor district
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
Oregon's 1st	68.4%	29.1%	63.3%	34.0%
Oregon's 2nd	36.6%	61.1%	42.1%	55.6%
Oregon's 3rd	72.5%	25.2%	74.3%	23.5%
Oregon's 4th	55.1%	42.3%	50.7%	46.7%
Oregon's 5th	53.2%	44.4%	53.6%	43.9%
Oregon's 6th	55.2%	42.1%	---	---

Demographic Data for Oregon
	Oregon	United States
Population	4,237,256	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	95,995	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	82.6%	70.4%
Black/African American	1.9%	12.6%
Asian	4.5%	5.6%
Native American	1.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0.4%	0.2%
Other (single race)	3.4%	5.1%
Multiple	6.2%	5.2%
Hispanic/Latino	13.2%	18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate	91.1%	88.5%
College graduation rate	34.4%	32.9%
Income
Median household income	$65,667	$64,994
Persons below poverty level	12.4%	12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Oregon, November 2022
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	4	6
Republican	0	1	1
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	5	7

State executive officials in Oregon, November 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Kate Brown
Secretary of State	Shemia Fagan
Attorney General	Ellen Rosenblum

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	18
	Republican Party	11
	Independent	1
	Vacancies	0
Total		30

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Oregon's 6th Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

News and conflicts in this primary

Endorsements

Election competitiveness

Polls

General election race ratings

Election spending

Campaign finance

Satellite spending

Ballot access requirements

District analysis

District map

Oregon District 6starting January 3, 2023

Effect of redistricting

Competitiveness

Post-filing deadline analysis

Presidential elections

Partisan Voter Index

2020 presidential election results

Presidential voting history

Demographics

State party control

Congressional delegation

State executive

State legislature

Oregon State Senate

Oregon House of Representatives

Trifecta control

2022 battleground elections

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

SITE NAVIGATION

Oregon District 6
starting January 3, 2023