Smith Needs To Suspend Ineffective Campaign

A Call for Republican Unity in Oregon: David Smith Must Suspend His Campaign to Stop Jo Rae Perkins and Defeat Jeff Merkley

Oregon Republicans stand at a crossroads in the 2026 U.S. Senate race. With ballots already in voters’ hands ahead of the May 19 primary, the choice is clear: we can unite behind a candidate with real momentum and a proven ability to appeal beyond the base—or we can fracture our vote, hand the nomination to a perennial loser, and guarantee six more years of Jeff Merkley’s radical left-wing agenda.

That is why I am calling on David Smith to immediately suspend his campaign for the good of the party and the state.

Senator Smith is a career politician. He has spent years in the Oregon Legislature, first in the House and now in the Senate. In many ways, he mirrors the very insider culture that defines Jeff Merkley: long tenure in government, comfortable in the system, and offering more of the same incremental politics that have left Oregonians frustrated and our state drifting leftward.

Oregon does not need another career politician in Washington. We need an outsider with fresh vision, common-sense solutions, and the credibility to take the fight directly to Merkley and win.

But the problem with Smith’s campaign goes beyond his record. It is actively damaging the Republican Party’s chances this cycle. By splitting the Republican vote, Smith is pulling support away from the one candidate with the momentum, the message, and the broad appeal needed to secure the nomination: Russ McAlmond.

The McAlmond campaign has built strong grassroots energy across Oregon.

As a U.S. Marine veteran, successful businessman, and financial professional, he represents the kind of principled, results-oriented leadership that can unify Republicans and attract independents. His campaign is gaining traction precisely because he offers a clear contrast to Merkley’s extremism without the baggage of endless government service.Worse, Smith’s continued presence risks delivering the nomination to Jo Rae Perkins—a candidate who has already lost the general election to Merkley twice before.

Perkins is a perennial candidate.

She received the Republican nomination in 2020 and 2022 and was defeated both times. She remains a vocal supporter of QAnon conspiracies. Her Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation was revoked by the CFP Board of Standards due to serious financial problems. And she openly states that she is running because of a “call from God”—yet that call has never once included the word “victory.” She loses every time she runs.

Perkins has a small but hardcore base of supporters who turn out reliably for her because of that claimed divine mandate. But her record guarantees another landslide loss to Merkley in November. Every vote that goes to Smith instead of McAlmond makes it harder to stop Perkins in the primary.

Smith’s campaign has drawn more critics than genuine momentum. It is ineffective at expanding the Republican tent and is instead fragmenting the very coalition we need to win.

This is not about personal ambition. This is about what is best for Oregon Republicans and for the future of our state.

Another nomination for Perkins would be a third consecutive disaster, locking in six more years of Merkley’s failed policies on the economy, public safety, energy, and Oregon values. We cannot afford that outcome.

David Smith has a choice to make—and the time to make it is now. Suspend your campaign. Step aside. Allow the Republican primary to consolidate behind Russ McAlmond, the candidate with the strongest support and the clearest path to victory.

Let us deny Perkins the nomination for a third time and give Oregon Republicans a nominee who can actually defeat Jeff Merkley in November.

Oregon deserves better than business-as-usual politics. We deserve a Senate candidate who fights for working families, rural communities, fiscal responsibility, and common sense—not another career insider or a guaranteed loser.

The momentum is with McAlmond.

The future of the party is with McAlmond. David Smith, for the sake of Oregon and the Republican Party, suspend your campaign today. Let’s unite, win the nomination, and take the Senate seat back for Oregonians who want real change instead of Merkley's continued extremism and hate.