PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Democrat Jeff Merkley is holding the lead over GOP incumbent Gordon Smith in early returns from the Oregon’s U.S. Senate race.

Merkley was riding a Democratic wave that swept the nation and Oregon as he held a 52 percent to 43 percent margin over Smith, with 18 percent of the vote counted.

Smith, the two-term senator, ran TV ads touting his work with Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats in an effort to portray himself a political moderate.

But Merkley countered with a TV ad featuring Obama urging Oregonians to vote for Merkley.