OR-04: Oregon's U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle headed to rematch with GOP challenger Monique DeSpain

The race to represent Oregonians living along the state’s central and southern coast and parts of the Willamette and Umpqua River Valleys in Congress will be a rematch of 2024.

U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, a Lane County Democrat representing Oregon’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, easily fended off her Democratic challengers in Tuesday’s primary election, with nearly 78% of the votes counted shortly after 8 p.m. Melissa Bird, a small business owner from Corvallis, had received nearly 19% of the vote, and Daniel Bahlen, a Eugene resident and former behavioral health professional, was at almost 3% of the vote.

Hoyle’s primary win means that once again, she’ll face Republican candidate Monique DeSpain in November.

Hoyle in the 2024 general election defeated DeSpain, an Air Force veteran and attorney, by nearly eight percentage points. But DeSpain, who said she refuses to give up on the people in the district, won the district’s Republican primary with almost 87% of the votes counted by 8 p.m. and beating Stefan Strek, a Southern Oregon University student who has run unsuccessfully for governor and Congress in past elections.




https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/19/oregons-u-s-rep-val-hoyle-appears-headed-to-rematch-with-gop-challenger-monique-despain/