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Good morning, Northwest.

After Democrats regained majorities in Congress, members of Oregon and Washington’s delegations could be in line for high-profile leadership roles.

OPB’s Bryce Dole starts today’s newsletter with a look at Northwest Democrats’ newfound strength in the legislative branch.

In other news, families of Silver Rail Elementary students are navigating fear and trauma leading up to the Bend school’s reopening after a deadly shooting there.

Here’s your First Look at Thursday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

6 Northwest lawmakers could gain powerful positions as Democrats flip Congress

As the results rolled in and Democrats took control of Congress Tuesday night, Sen. Ron Wyden wrote a single word on social media that summed up the party’s newfound power: “Subpoenas.”

Wyden is one of at least six longtime Pacific Northwest lawmakers who could rise to powerful positions after Democrats regained majorities in the House and Senate in midterm elections.

Democrats in Oregon and Washington — many of whom have been in Congress for decades — are in the direct line to chair positions on committees that control everything from federal spending to transportation to armed services.

The party may be hard-pressed to make significant legislative accomplishments, given President Trump’s veto power. Still, the shift from Tuesday’s election has many Democrats in the region well positioned to block signature parts of the Trump administration’s agenda and launch high-profile investigations that could roil Congress. (Bryce Dole)

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3 things to know

• Students will return to Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Nov. 12, just a few weeks after a teenager shot and killed four people there. At the first community meeting with Silver Rail families since the shooting, the school district, law enforcement and trauma specialists laid out their safety plan. (Jen Baires)
• The national Republican backlash voters delivered Tuesday has prompted a familier reckoning for Oregon Republicans, who haven’t managed to claim the governor’s seat since 1982. Christine Drazan raised significant money, had no major gaffes, and, once again, it was not enough. Where do they go from here? (Lauren Dake)
• Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat, has managed to win a district carried by Donald Trump each of the past three presidential elections. Political experts say her formula of emphasizing issues that directly impact Southwest Washington residents’ daily lives — even if it means breaking with her party — is working. (Elena Neale-Sacks)

Northwest headlines

• 8 Oregon school measures pass, 1 fails in November election (Elizabeth Miller)
• La Grande’s gas tax defeat echoes Oregon’s rejection of state transportation funding (Monica Carrillo-Casas)
• Portland councilors seem to coast to reelection as incumbency reigns (Alex Zielinski)
• Wildfire survivors pack courtroom for PacifiCorp lawsuit (April Ehrlich)
• Portland celebrates 100 years since the repeal of Oregon’s Black exclusion laws (Nora Colie)
• 1 deputy dies and another not expected to survive after firefight with suspect at Washington home (AP)
• Lillard and Clingan power Trail Blazers past Suns 132-119 to win 5th in a row on road (AP)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• A tribute to a cosmic jazz pioneer and other November highlights from KMHD
• Closing Oregon’s tax gap could bring the state billions
• Transitional housing program offers help to people newly released from Clark County Jail

One more look

Oregon was once a Republican stronghold. This politician started shifting the balance in 1954

After the U.S. Civil War, Oregon Republicans successfully linked themselves to the party’s broader Union patriotism and economic development policies, while Democrats struggled to overcome associations with the defeated Confederacy. Beginning in 1880, Republicans began a long period of dominating Oregon’s state Legislature.

One near-forgotten politician changed that balance of power. In the 1954 midterms, a progressive Democrat named Richard Neuberger narrowly won the Senate race, becoming the first Oregon Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 1914.

His election set into motion a big political shift away from Republican one-party rule, and ushered in three decades of bipartisan rule marked by power sharing between Democrats and moderate Republicans before Oregon’s current Democratic supermajority. (Jacob Pander)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/05/congress-leadership-oregon-washington-first-look/