Bentz Wins GOP 2nd District Primary

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Former state Sen. Cliff Bentz has won the Republican primary for state’s vast 2nd Congressional District covering eastern Oregon.

The GOP 2nd District race was one of the most closely-watched of Tuesday’s primary as the incumbent, Rep. Greg Walden, the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation, is not running for a 12th term.

Bentz beat former 2018 Republican Oregon gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler and former state legislator Jason Atkinson. Bentz will be favored in the November election.

Four Democrats sought their party’s nomination and that contest was too close to call.