An Air Force veteran who touts her national security experience has won the Republican primary in one of Oregon's more competitive House races.
Lawyer and former Air Force Col. Monique DeSpain will now face incumbent Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle, who represents Oregon's 4th Congressional District, in the November general election as Republicans hope to expand their narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
The race is one of the few competitive races in deep blue Oregon, but Democrats have a huge fundraising advantage, and national Republicans are likely to send money to more marginal races in other parts of the country.
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Former Air Force Col. Monique DeSpain (right) will face incumbent Democrat Val Hoyle (left), who represents Oregon's 4th Congressional District, in the November general election. (Getty Images, Monique for Congress)
Hoyle is no stranger to controversy.
Fox News Digital reported last year that she accepted donations to congressional campaigns from a handful of cannabis entrepreneurs who received a taxpayer-funded grant she oversaw during her term as commissioner of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) in 2022.
In April 2022, Data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). showed that Laura Vega, co-founder of the nonprofit ENDVR, made a $1,000 donation to Hoyle's campaign. Vega, according to Portland-based Willamette Week, “founded a cannabis products company and served on a series of cannabis advisory boards.”
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The donation to Hoyle's congressional campaign by Vega, who co-founded ENDVR with La Mota CEO Rosa Cazares in late 2021, came just a week after ENDVR was granted nonprofit status by the IRS and two weeks before the nonprofit filed a grant application with the BOLI to set up an internship program.
Hoyle was also among a group of Democrats who were showered with campaign cash from colleagues who refused to condemn Hamas' devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a Fox News Digital review showed last year.
Val Hoyle during her 2022 campaign for Congress. (AP)
A number of far-left progressives have poured money into the campaigns of at least 33 other Democrats from their own committees in recent years, with some receiving more than $15,000 from the group, the review showed. Many Democrats who received the contributions are embroiled in tough election battles, including Hoyle.
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Hoyle received $15,000 from the group at the time.
Election analysts rate the race for Oregon's 4th Congressional District as “likely Democratic.”
Kyle Morris of Fox News contributed to this report.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on our Fox News Digital election hub.
