Kerry Tymchuk

U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) campaign spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride accused Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley's (D-Portland) campaign of lying about the specifics of Smith state director Kerry Tymchuk's approval of State Capitol renovations.

The Merkley campaign hit back at Gordon Smith’s latest television ad Thursday, by saying that the state capitol remodel and furniture purchase that Smith’s commercial disparages was actually approved by Smith’s state director, Kerry Tymchuk.

Jon Isaacs' FuturePAC campaign for House Democrats in '06 is #3 on the list

One of our regular features at PolitickerOR.com will be a series of lists that we hope you will enjoy. With the launch of our new Oregon-based political news site, we are pleased to offer our lists of Oregon's Ten Best and Worst Campaigns of the 21st Century.

For the most part, we looked at races that were highly competitive. Some campaigns perform extremely well, but of course, they are expected to win. And there are the so-called sacrificial lambs, running for various offices across the state that are not expected to raise money, go in the mailbox, or even send out press releases; we tried not to bother them.

Remember, this list – like all lists – are highly subjective. And as always, we encourage the feedback of our readers.

Oregon's Ten Best Campaigns of the 21st Century

Oregon's Ten Worst Campaigns of the 21st Century