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CIVIC HERALD
Jeff Merkley

3rd term · 17.7 years in office: 2 full terms completed, 1 in progress.

Senator · OR · Democrat · since Jan 2009

Jeff Merkley

Bills authored 55Missed votes 2 of 214Party unity 36% derived, how we compute this

Counted from 214 roll calls and 294 sponsorship records on file.

Provisionalunreviewed: stated positions
Stray indexpending review

Who they are · every sentence carries its source

Before the votes, a life.

Jeffrey Alan Merkley was born in 1956 and attended first grade in Roseburg, Oregon, before his family moved to Portland.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley He earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Stanford University in 1979 and a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University in 1982.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley After working as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Department of Defense and an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, he returned to Portland in 1991 to serve as the executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

Merkley was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1998, where he served until 2009 and spent his final two years as Speaker of the House.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley He was elected to the United States Senate in 2008 and won reelection in 2014 and 2020.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

In their own words

“And this is something very near and dear to my heart because I am a blue-collar kid, and my father said, when I was in grade school: Go to the doors of the schoolhouse. You go through those doors, and you study hard, and you can do just about anything in America, because we are so fortunate to live in America.”

Congressional Record · Jun 24, 2026 · Source

One rule for every member: their most recent dated, linkable statement about themselves.

The path here

  1. 1979

    Graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in international relations.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

  2. 1982

    Earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from Princeton University.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

  3. 1991-1994

    Served as executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

  4. 1999-2009

    Served in the Oregon House of Representatives, including a term as Speaker of the House.Source 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

  5. 2009-Present

    Serves as a U.S. Senator from Oregon.Source 1: Jeff Merkley — Biographical Directory of the United States CongressSource 3: Wikipedia: Jeff Merkley

Next election: Nov 3, 2026general · in 51 days

99.07% attendance · all roll calls we have ingested

2 sources

  1. 1Jeff Merkley — Biographical Directory of the United States Congressbioguideopen source
  2. 3Wikipedia: Jeff Merkleywikipediaopen source archived copy
Full record card

The record card · sourced from Bioguide, the Clerk and the FEC

17.7YRS

In office · 3rd term · since Jan 2009

We hold certified results for U.S. House seats only.

99.07%

Attendance

senate median 98.13% (100 members)

NOV'26

Next election · general

in 51 days

Figures cover all roll calls we have ingested.

Before Congress

  1. 1979 Graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in international relations.
  2. 1982 Earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from Princeton University.
  3. 1991-1994 Served as executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity.
  4. 1999-2009 Served in the Oregon House of Representatives, including a term as Speaker of the House.
  5. 2009-Present Serves as a U.S. Senator from Oregon.
Senate Committee on the Budget ranking memberJoint Committee on PrintingSenate Committee on AppropriationsSenate Committee on Environment and Public WorksSenate Committee on Foreign RelationsSenate Committee on Rules and AdministrationSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight subcommittee ranking memberSenate Committee on Appropriations · Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee ranking memberSenate Committee on Foreign Relations · Africa and Global Health Policy subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies subcommitteeSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies subcommitteeSenate Committee on Foreign Relations · East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · Energy and Water Development subcommitteeSenate Committee on Appropriations · State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommitteeSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Transportation and Infrastructure subcommitteeSenate Committee on Foreign Relations · Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues subcommittee55 bills authored · 0 enacted

Says vs. does · 72 issues in 6 clusters

Stated position vs. voting record.

The dashed shape is what they campaigned on. The solid shape is how they voted. Where the shapes separate, the record differs from the platform. The distance is measured. What it means is up to you.

SaysDoes
  • Economy & taxes: not yet stated; voted 46 of 100 toward FISCAL RESTRAINT.
  • Safety & enforcement: not yet stated; voted 43 of 100 toward STRICTER ENFORCEMENT.
  • Immigration: not yet stated; voted 27 of 100 toward TIGHTER LIMITS.
  • Rights & liberty: not yet stated; voted 53 of 100 toward INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY.
  • Environment & energy: not yet stated; voted 60 of 100 toward CONSERVE & PROTECT.
  • Governance & oversight: not yet stated; voted 69 of 100 toward DISCLOSURE & AUDIT.
Rim = strongest position on each cluster’s named pole · Same scale for every member · How we score ▸

pending review

The stats, cluster by cluster

6 clusters · 72 issues · sorted by gap size

Each rail runs between two positions real bills take. ○ marks what they campaigned on; ▪ marks how they voted. Select a cluster to open its issues.

GapSorted by gap size · How we score ▸

Receipts · recent votes on passage

How they voted.

Money & ties

Who's behind them.

How complete is this money picture?

46%of the money categories we track are publicly disclosed for this member, counting those that lawfully lag.

  • Campaign financeThrough Jun 30, 2026Current · 34%
  • Corporate-PAC shareNot yet derived · 22%
  • Disclosed tradesLagged · 12%
  • Lobbyist meetingsNot disclosed · 32%

Disclosed by the FEC; we have not built the honest derivation — same for every member.

Members must disclose trades within 45 days; this picture is always at least that far behind.

A gap in the disclosure system, not a statement about this member — lobbyist meetings are not federally disclosed for any member of Congress.

Weights are fixed product-wide and disclosed, so this percentage is comparable across members.

Who funds them · 2026 cycle · FEC through Jun 30, 2026

$4.5MTotal raised · 1 ▪ = $125.0K · 37 units, rounded up

  • PAC contributions$477.5K · 10.5%
  • Itemized individual$2.5M · 54.6%
  • Small-dollar (≤$200)$1.1M · 23.3%
  • All other$524.9K · 11.6%
FEC filing totals ↗

Disclosed trades

We hold no disclosed-trade filings for this member. That is a gap in what we have loaded; it does not mean none were filed.

FEC OpenFEC · disclosed trades: House Clerk / Senate filings.

Ideology placement

Economic (dim 1)-0.452
Social (dim 2)-0.712

Voteview DW-NOMINATE · retrieved Sep 7, 2026 — an external attributed reference, shown as context.

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