While most eyes were on Florida here in Oregon we had the first Congressional election of the year.

Democrat Suzanne Bonamici swept to victory Tuesday in Oregon’s 1st Congressional District as her party continued its nearly four-decade-long hold on the seat covering the northwestern corner of the state.

Partial returns showed Bonamici defeated Republican Rob Cornilles as she carried over 50 percent of the vote in a special election to fill the seat left vacant following the resignation of Democrat David Wu in August.

A former state legislator, Bonamici becomes the only woman in the seven-member Oregon congressional delegation and her campaign expects that she will be sworn in within the next week.

It looks like Bonamici will win by 10 plus percentage points.  This is important because in November the 1st Congresional District will become less blue because of redistricting.  With 69% of the votes counted Bonamici lead Cornilles 58% to 42%.