State Rep. Greg Smith is on track to win the Republican nomination for Oregon House District 57, but a spirited primary challenge made early returns much closer than usual.

Smith is leading former Morrow County Commissioner Jim Doherty in early returns. The Heppner Republican should have little trouble winning a 13th term come November in the heavily conservative district, which stretches from Milton-Freewater in northern Umatilla County to the Warm Springs Reservation in Central Oregon, with Hermiston as its largest city. Should the early primary results hold, it will be one of Smith’s weakest electoral showings in his decades-spanning career.

Smith did not immediately return a request for comment on election night.

Doherty thanked his voters but declined to concede in a text message to OPB, adding that “2028 is just around the corner.”

“Eastern Oregon families deserve clean water and honest representation, and that fight doesn’t end tonight,” he wrote.

First elected in 2000, Smith cultivated a reputation as a bipartisan dealmaker in Salem, especially if a deal resulted in money going toward projects in his district.

But questions over potential ethical conflicts from Smith’s day job as an economic development consultant have swirled around him for years and came to a head last year through an Oregon Government Ethics Commission investigation and an ongoing lawsuit waged by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield.

Doherty criticized Smith for the ethical allegations and used them to contrast the two candidates. During his campaign, Doherty promised to take more action on groundwater pollution in the Lower Umatilla Basin and Eastern Oregon data centers.

Doherty doesn’t have a spotless political record himself, having been recalled from the Morrow County Board of Commissioners in 2022. At the time, recall supporters said they wanted to oust Doherty over a bevy of local issues, including the firing of an administrator and local ambulance service. But in his campaign, Doherty said it was advocacy for the victims of nitrate pollution that led to his recall.

During the primary campaign, Smith leaned on his institutional support. He touted his endorsement from trade groups, labor unions and Republican legislative leaders, including state Sen. Christine Drazan, who appears to have clenched the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination Tuesday night.

District 57 has typically been among the lowest turnout House districts in the state.

In an interview before the results were announced, Eastern Oregon University political science professor Dustin Ellis said some of that may have to do with demographics. Umatilla and Morrow counties both have significant Latino populations, a group that typically turns out at a lower rate than the general population.

But Ellis said the political dominance of Smith may actually deter voters from participating if they think the results are a foregone conclusion.

“Greg seems to have had a lock on that district for a long time,” he said.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/19/greg-smith-eastern-oregon-house-seat-primary-election/