Ted Kulongoski's was elected Oregon's governor in 2002 with 49 percent of the vote against Republican challenger Kevin Mannix, who received 46 percent.

Kulongoski succeeded in his bid for re-election in 2006, defeating Republican challenger Ron Saxton with 51 percent of the vote.

Kulongoski's election as Oregon's governor came after almost a 30-year career in politics that began as a state House staffer in 1973. He was elected to a state House seat from Lane County the next year, and later moved to the state Senate. He unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood in 1980.

In 1982, Kulongoski ran unsuccessfully for governor, losing by a wide margin to Republican Vic Atiyeh. He had been on a comeback since losing to Atiyeh, serving as insurance commissioner and winning statewide elections as attorney general in 1992 and to a state Supreme Court seat in 1996.

(Last updated by Brad Cain on March 29, 2009.)

Jeff Merkley defeated incumbent Republican Gordon Smith to win a U.S. Senate seat in 2008. Merkley took 49 percent of the vote to Smith's 46 percent.

In was a noteworthy victory for Merkley, who was far from the first choice of national Democrats looking for a challenger to Smith.

Smith, a wealthy business owner with a big re-election fund, had tried hard to appeal to Oregon's Democratic and independent voters. He ran TV ads touting his work with Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and other prominent Democrats on issues such as alternative energy.

Merkley won the election after a campaign in which he countered with a TV ad featuring Obama directly urging Oregonians to vote for Merkley. It was the only TV ad Obama did for another candidate for the general election, showing the importance that national Democrats placed on the Oregon race.

Merkley was recruited to run for the U.S. Senate by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee after several more widely known Democrats, including Reps. Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer, decided not to run for the seat.

In Oregon's May 2008 senatorial primary, Merkley capitalized on backing from national Democrats to fend off the challenge by Steve Novick, a fiery political activist from Portland. Merkley was endorsed by most of the state's major labor groups and Democratic political figures.

Merkley was first elected to the Oregon House in 1999. As House minority leader, he was instrumental in Democrats gaining majority control in the 2007 legislative session and was elected House speaker later that year.

As Oregon House speaker, Merkley presided over a legislative session that endorsed civil unions for same-sex couples; provided bigger tax breaks for renewable energy producers and a created a state rainy day fund.

(Last updated by Brad Cain on March 27, 2009.)

Ron Wyden first won his Senate seat in a special election in January 1996 to replace Republican Sen. Bob Packwood. Wyden's victory came in a hard-fought race with Gordon Smith, who went on to win his own Senate seat in the 1996 November election. In the January race, Wyden won 48 percent of the vote, edging out Smith, who had 47 percent.

Wyden was elected to a full term in 1998 with 61 percent of the vote and was re-elected in 2004 with 64 percent of the vote against Republican Al King.

Wyden was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980 at age 31 ousting incumbent Democratic Rep. Robert Duncan in a primary and re-elected 1982 through 1994.

(Last updated by Matthew Daly on April 14, 2009.)