Updated: May 24

No other race garnered as much national attention during the May primary as Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. More than half a dozen candidates ran to fill the seat held by current US Rep. Earl Blumenauer for nearly 30 years. Blumenauer is retiring and didn't seek reelection.

The 3rd District includes most of Multnomah County east of the river, as well as Hood River County.

Physician and current state representative Maxine Dexter pulled off a significant win, beating top Democrat challengers Susheela Jayapal and Eddy Morales. for the Democratic nomination. Dexter will now face Republican Joanna Harbour in the November general election.

Dexter's campaign took center stage earlier this month, when it was reported that pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was discreetly spending big to help Dexter win. AIPAC appears to have boosted Dexter's campaign by funneling money to a different political action committee called 314 Action Fund, which then spent at least $1.67 million supporting Dexter.

Dexter doesn't currently live in the 3rd District. Records show she and her husband own a home in the 1st District. It's not required for members of Congress to live in their districts, but Dexter has previously said she'd like to move back to the 3rd District, where she lived prior to 2014.

The election also saw big spending on smear ads against Jayapal by what appears to be a murky, out-of-state group called Voters For Responsive Government, which spent more than $1 million on the attack ads.

Overall, an estimated $6 million was spent, largely by PACs, on the 3rd District race.

Hours after Dexter's win Tuesday night, the rumors about the true source of her donors were confirmed when AIPAC took to social media to publicly congratulate her, calling Jayapal a political threat to Israel's US-aided war in Gaza.  

Jayapal said she called and congratulated Dexter Tuesday evening, but around the same time, Jayapal issued a statement saying the primary election "showed so clearly why we need to have real campaign finance reform that allows for public financing."

Susheela Jayapal speaks during a campaign rally Monday, May 20, where she was 
joined by her sister, Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. jayapal campaign

In the 5th District, which includes a sliver of Multnomah County and a large swath of Deschutes County, current Oregon representative Janelle Bynum secured a win over fellow Democrat Jamie McLeod Skinner. Bynum will now face Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in November.

The 5th District seat is considered a must-win for Democrats, who are hoping to oust Chavez-DeRemer, the incumbent. 

In Oregon's 1st District, incumbent Rep. Suzanne Bonamici won by a significant margin, with little fanfare or fuss. Bonamici will face Republican challenger Bob Todd in November.

Oregonians also elected Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee and Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, but not without a combined nearly 50,000 write-in votes. Unofficial results show write-in votes accounted for nearly 6 percent of all Democratic votes tallied by Friday afternoon. Underdog Marianne Williamson nabbed 7 percent. 

The protest votes were encouraged as part of a nationwide effort to show Biden that Democrats don't approve of his support for Israel in its war against Gaza.

Republicans took similar action. Unofficial results showed 8 percent of the GOP presidential nomination votes going to a write-in candidate rather than Trump.

Note: This story has been updated since it first published.