Fundraising and spending strategies set apart GOP candidates in Senate District 6 race​

In the race for the Republican primary for Oregon’s Senate District 6, interviews and campaign finance records for the three candidates show how they are campaigning in vastly different ways.

The three candidates — Springfield School Board member Nicole De Graff, Oregon State Rep. Jami Cate and former Santa Rosa, California City Councilor Jack Tibbetts — are vying in the May 19 primary election for the Republican spot on the November 2026 general election ballot.

The district includes Creswell, Cottage Grove, Oakridge, the McKenzie River valley, Junction City, Coburg and other parts of eastern Lane County. It also includes much of Linn County and a small portion of southern Marion County.

As of Saturday, May 16, Cate has raised $47,469 in the lead-up to the May primary, which only includes this year, according to ORESTAR, Oregon’s online campaign finance records database. Separately, Cate has spent $1,257 of her money on her campaign.

Accounting for $69,000 in other spending and carryover funds from 2025 and prior campaigns for elected office, ORESTAR shows that the campaign has a $2,915 cash balance, which does not include the $1,257 in expenses because those were filled as “personal expenditures for reimbursement.”

Tibbetts reported Saturday that he raised $62,799 and spent $46,042 in the lead-up to the May election. His campaign has a cash balance of $16,657.48, according to ORESTAR.

De Graff’s campaign reported Saturday that her campaign has raised $900 in the lead-up to the May primary. Additionally, De Graff has spent $1,439 of her money on her campaign, including $153 for advertising featured on the Cottage Grove-based KNND AM, $750 for inclusion in the Oregon Secretary of State’s voter pamphlet, $72 on yard signs and $256 on brochures and postcards.

Factoring in $369 in other spending, De Graff’s campaign has a $531 cash balance, according to ORESTAR.

However, because the $1,439 in expenses was filed as “personal expenditure for reimbursement,” the campaign technically has a $1,122 deficit.

What are the candidates spending their money on?

De Graff’s campaign has also spent $305 on the postage needed to mail the postcards, which De Graff paid for with her own money. She said she hand-addresses each postcard to voters, writing personal notes to people she’s met on the campaign trail.

Tibbets and De Graff both said they have attended multiple candidate forums, but their campaign spending differs significantly.

Tibbets has spent more than $40,000 on campaign brochures and the postage needed to mail them to voters.

Tibbets also noted that he has purchased advertising on KNND radio and Facebook, as well as yard signs and automated text messages.

Cate has spent at least $37,000 on mailers to voters, according to ORESTAR. The campaign records for Cate also indicate that she has spent money on social media advertising.

Cate did not respond to requests for comment for this story, but she participated in an interview and filled out a written questionnaire for an April 29 story that Lookout Eugene-Springfield wrote about the race for the Senate seat.

Who is donating?

The campaign finance records for De Graff, Cate and Tibbetts provide a window into political support networks around the contest.

As of Saturday, the top donor to De Graff is Eugene resident Jennie Reed, who has donated $500 and is friends with De Graff. Reed’s donation accounts for more than half of the donations that De Graff has reported as of Saturday.

The rest of De Graff’s donors have donated no more than $100.

De Graff said she has intentionally avoided seeking large campaign donations. She said she has focused her campaign on direct voter engagement through door-knocking, community forums, and meet-and-greets at coffee shops, all of which cost her little to no money.

“Twenty authentic face-to-face visits were more important for me than a whole bunch of mailers sent out that people might throw away,” De Graff said.

Tibbetts, by contrast, appears to be running a less grassroots campaign.

Tibbetts’s top two donors are the Oregon Firearms Education Foundation and a trust associated with wine industry billionaire Barbara R. Banke, who lists a Sonoma County, California address. Oregon Firearms has donated $10,000, while Banke has donated $7,000.

In terms of smaller contributions, donors who have donated less than $100 account for less than 6% of the $62,799 that Tibbetts’s campaign has raised as of Saturday. Other donors to Tibbetts who have donated more than $2,500 include a trust associated with his family and the California-based Blue Star Gas Associates.

The Oregon Firearms Education Foundation has endorsed Tibbetts.

“I don’t know why it ended up being the top donor, but I’m sure grateful to them for it,” Tibbetts said. “They’re the leading Second Amendment organization in Oregon.”

According to Tibbetts, Banke owns about 400 acres of vineyards in Oregon. Tibbetts said Banke is connected to him because he owns Saginaw Vineyard, which is located near Cottage Grove.

​Cate, on the other hand, is seeing large donations from the real estate and pharmaceutical industries.

Cate’s top two donors are the Oregon Realtors Political Action Committee and another political committee associated with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Each has donated $5,000.

Donors who have donated less than $100 account for nearly 14% of the $47,469 in donations that Cate has reported as of Friday.

Other donors who have given more than $2,500 to Cate include the Oregon Soft Drink political action committee and the campaign committee for Oregon State Sen. Dick Anderson, a Lincoln City Republican.