History Of Our District

The district was created in 1982 when Oregon was granted a new congressional district as a result of reapportionment from the 1980 census. Denny Smith, who had represented Oregon's 2nd congressional district in the previous Congress, was re-elected in the 5th district in 1982 after it absorbed most of the western portion of the old 2nd.

In 2002, the district shrank slightly in area due to redistricting. About half of the portion of the district that had been in Benton County was moved into the 4th district and portions of west-central Clackamas County were moved into the 3rd district. At the same time, small portions of northern Clackamas and southern Multnomah County that had previously been part of the 1st district were moved into the 5th district.[6]

Following the 2020 Census and the subsequent redistricting, the 5th was redrawn significantly. It lost its western and coastal portions, including the urban portion of Salem, as well as all of Polk, Lincoln, and Tillamook counties. It gained all of Linn County and the most populated portions of Deschutes County. It is the most evenly divided district in partisan terms in Oregon, and has been through many iterations.