Oregon State Representative Andrea Salinas won Tuesday 18 primary elections and will become the Democratic nominee for Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, even though her fiercer opponent, Carrick Flyn, has received the biggest financial and political grants. Salinas faced eight other candidates, and if she wins the midterm election in November, she will be Oregon's first Latina elected to Congress.

The state legislature created the 6th district after the 2020 census showed Oregon's population grew. The new Oregon House district includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, part of Marion County that includes Salem and Woodburn, a small stretch of Beaverton, and suburban communities southwest of Portland, including Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood.

“High-profile PACs are pouring millions into the Democratic primary for this new district. Carrick Flynn, an artificial intelligence researcher who has never held elected office, has the support of Sam Bankman-Fried, a crypto billionaire, as well as a PAC aligned with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Andrea Salinas, a state representative, is the progressives’ pick for the new seat, and has endorsements from labor unions, Planned Parenthood and the Working Families Party”, according to The New York Times.

Flynn's opponents, including Congresswoman Salina, criticized outside groups who shelled out a large sum of money to support a seemingly unknown candidate with less political experience than the four women, three of them black, who were also running for the same office.

“Super PACs spent more than $12 million in advertising and direct mail campaigning on Flynn’s behalf. The revelation that most of that money was tied to cryptocurrency entrepreneur Samuel Bankman-Fried dominated headlines throughout the race. Salinas overcame the funding gap to win the district’s Democratic nomination. Flynn conceded the race just before 10 p.m. Tuesday”, according to OPB.

The Andrea Salinas’ cornerstones campaign were reducing the cost of prescription drugs, the country's transition to clean energy sources and protecting access to reproductive health, a topic that has become an important issue in the dispute.

For the past five years, Salinas has represented Lake Oswego at Oregon House. Her tenure was marked by work on issues related to health, climate, and social equity. More recently, she helped sponsor legislation in the 2022 session that provided paid overtime to Oregon farmworkers.

Salinas start working for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, eventually joining the team of California Rep. Pete Stark and later Oregon Rep. Darlene Hooley. She served as the legislative director of the Oregon Environmental Council before becoming a lobbyist working on environmental and health issues.

In a statement Tuesday night, Salina stated: “I am ready to win this seat in November and work hard to expand access to abortion care, tackle the climate crisis and lower the cost of prescription drugs”.