A GUIDE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RACES: OREGON

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OREGON

Population (1994): 3,086,000 (up 8.6% from 1990); 1.2% of U.S. total

Voting-age population: 2,311,000; 1994 turnout, 41%

Median age: 35 years

Median household income: $31,456 ($808 below U.S. median)

Unemployment: 5.1% (0.5% below U.S. average, March 1996)

Last presidential election: Clinton (D): 42% Bush (R): 33% Perot (I): 24%

Congressional delegation: Four Democrats, three Republicans

Oregon's larger towns--including Eugene, Corvallis and Portland--are enclaves of high-tech industry, university students and environmentalists. Loggers in the Cascade Mountains, millworkers in towns like Roseburg ("Timber Capital of the Nation") and eastern Oregon farmers and ranchers, however, are more conservative, fueling the ongoing "lumber wars" and keeping the state's delegation to the House divided. In the Senate, two Republicans have held sway for nearly 30 years, but the party's dominance may be coming to an abrupt end: earlier this year, the disgraced Bob Packwood was replaced by a Democrat, and now Mark Hatfield is retiring.

TOM BRUGGERE (D) SENATE (OPEN SEAT)

BORN: Feb. 18, 1946, Berkeley, Calif. EDUCATION: U of California at Santa Barbara, B.A., 1968; U of Wisconsin, M.S., 1972; Pepperdine U, M.B.A., 1975 FAMILY: Wife, Kelley; two children RELIGION: Protestant MILITARY: Army, 1968-70 OCCUPATION: Software-company owner POLITICAL CAREER: Oregon board of higher education, 1988-92 ADDRESS: 477 Southwest 11th Avenue, Portland 97205. Tel.: 503-226-7199

In the fight to succeed retiring G.O.P. moderate Mark Hatfield--a campaign marred by partisan sniping--Bruggere has blasted Gordon Smith's frozen-foods company for allegedly poisoning creeks with factory waste. Politically, the foes' platforms are remarkably similar, and the race is a toss-up. But if Bruggere does win, it will mean a reversal of almost 30 years of G.O.P. Senate control in Oregon.

THE ISSUES

Budget NO Medicare YES Defense NO Abortion YES Guns YES Gays YES Bosnia NO NAFTA YES Welfare YES National Service YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)

QUOTE OF NOTE: "I consider myself a sensible environmentalist, unlike my opponent who voted against the environment 96% of the time [in the state Senate]."

GORDON SMITH (R) SENATE (OPEN SEAT)

BORN: May 25, 1952, Pendleton EDUCATION: Brigham Young, B.A., 1976; Southwestern U, J.D., 1979 FAMILY: Wife, Sharon; three children RELIGION: Mormon MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Frozen-food company executive; lawyer POLITICAL CAREER: Oregon Senate, 1993- ADDRESS: 5285 Southwest Meadows Road, Suite 181, Lake Oswego 97035. Tel.: 503-639-4156

Smith suffered a narrow loss in a January special election to fill the vacant Senate seat of Bob Packwood, who left under a cloud of scandal. In this bitter race, Smith has accused Tom Bruggere of hiring a San Francisco private-investigation firm to "dig dirt." Smith has tempered some of his more conservative positions for this race, but in a state that has elected moderate Senators for the past 30 years, the winner here should still be a moderating influence on Capitol Hill.

THE ISSUES