EUGENE, Ore. -- Political novice Candy Neville, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley and Portland lawyer Steve Novick took part in a debate Tuesday night in advance of Oregon's May primary. The three are the top candidates to run against incumbent Republican Gordon Smith for Oregon's Senate seat.

Novick and Merkley have combined to raise more than $2 million for their campaigns. Neville figures she has about $700 to spend.

 More: Merkley leads fundraising race

Neville launched her unlikely bid because she was upset about the Iraq war and Smith's initial support for it.

The political novice from Eugene recently stunned the political establishment when she placed second in a poll measuring the support of the six Democrats seeking to take on Republican Gordon Smith in the fall.

That finish landed her a spot in the only televised debate of the campaign.

Seasoned political insiders call her naive. Fans find her refreshing. Now many Oregon television viewers will get a chance to make up their own minds about her.

Novick got $346,000 in the first quarter, pushing the Portland activist's total to $889,000, his campaign reported.Novick's report listed $195,000 cash in the bank.

The amount raised by the two Democrats pales in comparison with the re-election fund that's been amassed by Republican Sen. Gordon Smith. The GOP incumbent reportedly has raised $8.3 million so far, and has more than $5 million cash on hand.

Still, Merkley's fundraising has enabled him to blanket the airwaves in the past week with an ad touting his accomplishments as House speaker. A second Merkley ad, featuring his wife Mary, a registered nurse, discussing health care issues, went on the air Monday.

The Novick campaign on Monday began re-airing two TV ads that have been a hit on YouTube. One has Novick using the metal prosthesis that serves as his left hand to open a voter's beer bottle. The other, which spoofs an old TV game show, plays on Novick's stature -- he's 4-foot-9.

Novick has tried to paint Merkley as a politics-as-usual candidate. Merkley has questioned whether Novick, with the caustic comments he's made about fellow Democrats such as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, deserves Democratic voter support.

 More: Complete political coverage

Tuesday's debate aired at 7 p.m. on KGW Newschannel 8 and kgw.com.