"This campaign is really between Oregon values on the one hand and Koch values on the other hand."

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Merkley, Wehby clash over minimum wage, Koch brothers in Oregon debate
By Peter Sullivan, October 15, 2014

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Republican challenger Monica Wehby met in the first debate of the Oregon Senate race on Tuesday night, and Wehby failed to land a blow that would significantly alter a race that appears to be headed Merkley's way.

Wehby, a pediatric neurosurgeon, portrayed Merkley as an extreme "rubber stamp" for President Obama, while Merkley in turn called Wehby in line with far-right Republicans.

"He is so extreme, he is even too extreme for Oregon," she said, according to The Associated Press. "We need somebody to represent all of Oregon, not just one segment."

Merkley linked Wehby to the wealthy Republican backers Charles and David Koch, a tactic of Democrats across the country, as well as 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.

"These are extreme sets of policies, and it is not the Oregon values," Merkley said, The Oregonian reports. "This campaign is really between Oregon values on the one hand and Koch values on the other hand."

The two clashed over the minimum wage. Merkley supports increasing it to $10.10 an hour, as President Obama does, but Wehby argued that would cost jobs.

Wehby pointed to increasing timber production, trying to contrast Merkley with the state's other Democratic senator, Ron Wyden, who has backed a bill to allow timber production on certain federal lands in Oregon.

"What has Sen. Merkley done about all of this? Nothing," she said. "He's not even worked with Sen. Ron Wyden to get our Oregon timber community back to work."

Wehby trails in the polls by double digits and has been plagued by a plagiarism controversy that led to her removing all of her policy proposals from her website last month.

Tuesday night's debate is likely to be the only one.
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