Democratic state Rep. Andrea Salinas faces off against Republican Mike Erickson in Oregon's 6th Congressional District election

• Democratic state Rep. Andrea Salinas is running against Republican Mike Erickson in Oregon's 6th Congressional District.
• The 6th District is one of seven new US House districts created after the 2020 Census.

Democrat Andrea Salinas, who chaired the House redistricting committee that helped create the boundaries for the new district she is now campaigning to represent, faces off against Republican Mike Erickson in Oregon's 6th Congressional District.

The 6th District has no incumbent; it is one of seven new US House districts created after the 2020 Census.

Oregon's 6th Congressional District candidates

Salinas currently represents Oregon's House District 38. She chairs the House Special Committee on Redistricting and is also the House Majority Whip.

Salinas supports the reduction of the price of prescription drugs, protecting abortion access, and immigration.

Prior to becoming a state legislator, Salinas interned for Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California in her San Francisco district office, then served as legislative staff to Sen. Harry Reid, advised Rep. Pete Stark on tax and trade policy, and finally, served as a district aide to Rep. Darlene Hooley.

If she gets elected in November, she would be among the first Latinas to represent Oregon in Congress.

Erickson, Salinas' challenger, is the owner of a supply chain and logistics consulting company. He's had multiple failed bids for political office in the past — he ran and lost twice to serve in the Oregon House in the 1990s and lost to Democrat Darlene Hooley in 2006 and Democrat Kurt Schrader in 2008 — making this his third congressional bid.

If elected, Erickson said he will focus on reducing inflation, increasing domestic energy production, lowering taxes, and protecting the environment.

Salinas and Erickson are currently in the middle of a legal fight: Erickson is suing Salinas over a negative campaign commercial.

Voting history for Oregon's 6th Congressional District

Oregon's newly minted 6th Congressional District covers Polk and Yamhill counties along with some Portland suburbs. It's one of the most diverse districts in the state, spanning rural areas where high numbers of voters work in the agriculture and timber industries, and urban areas that are home to large Latino populations.

The 6th District, created after the 2020 Census showed population growth in parts of northwest Oregon, has the largest Latino population of any Oregon congressional seat, which could play a critical role in deciding this race.

The new district, had it existed in 2020, would have likely gone to Joe Biden, given its partisan make-up.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Salinas has raised more than $2.8 million, spent $2.6 million, and has $241,000 cash on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Erickson, has raised almost $3.5 million, spent more than $3.4 million, and has $30,000 still left to spend, as of October 19.

As of November 4, more than a dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have together spent about $21.6 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase. More than half of that spending went toward supporting Carrick Flynn, who finished second to Salinas in the race's Democratic primary.

What experts say

The race between Salinas and Erickson is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.