DEMOCRAT WINS OREGON'S SENATE RACE.

Byline: Associated Press 

Democratic Rep. Ron Wyden survived a dismal performance on a pop quiz and attacks labeling him a tax-and-spend liberal to narrowly win a special Senate election Tuesday to replace a disgraced Bob Packwood. It was the nation's first vote-by-mail congressional election.

With 85 percent of precincts reporting, Wyden had 550,201 votes or 48 percent; Republican Gordon Smith, a wealthy businessman and state Senate president, had 531,993 or 47 percent; and four other candidates divided the remainder. Oregon law does not require the winner to get a majority of all votes cast.

Both parties billed the election as an early barometer for the 1996 national political season. Packwood's resignation last year left the Republicans with a 53-46 majority in the Senate.

Wyden becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Oregon since the 1960s.

A telephone poll showed that Wyden won slightly more of the women's vote, while Smith held an edge among men. Wyden narrowly led among the 54 percent of voters whose 1995 household income was less than $30,000. Smith narrowly led among the 24 percent of voters age 65 and over.

Among the 13 percent of voters who cited the federal budget negotiations as their most important issue, more than three-quarters supported Smith, according to the poll. Among the 12 percent who said the environment was their top issue, 72 percent supported Wyden.

Smith beat Wyden 58 percent to 35 percent among the 14 percent of voters who cited taxes as their most important issue, and he held a narrow edge among the 15 percent who cited abortion.

Wyden got roughly six of 10 votes among the 15 percent who said education was the top issue and the 12 percent who cited the Republicans' performance in Congress.

Among the 28 percent of voters who identified themselves as independents, Wyden got 53 percent of the vote and Smith 37 percent. But of the 14 percent of Oregon voters who said they had voted for Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election, 51 percent supported Smith and 40 percent Wyden. Perot got 24 percent of the vote in Oregon in 1992.

Voting began three weeks ago and turnout already had surpassed 60 percent by Tuesday morning. More than 160 drop sites were available around the state for voters who waited too long to mail ballots.