PORTLAND, Ore. -- Backed by national Democrats, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley pulled out a victory Tuesday in the U.S. Senate primary, fending off a tough challenge from an insurgent opponent.

Check: Election results

After defeating Portland lawyer and activist Steve Novick in the primary, 45.6 percent to 41 percent, with minor candidates capturing the remainder of the vote, Merkley now turns his focus on beating two-term incumbent Gordon Smith, the lone Republican senator on the West Coast.

“This is one of the two best opportunities in the country for a challenger to beat a Republican incumbent. And the simple reason is because Sen. Smith has been so out of sync with the values of this state.” Merkley said, during a live interview on KGW-TV Wednesday morning. “Our families are struggling with the increasing cost of housing, the cost of gas and the cost of education... this will be a conversation about where our nation is heading and quite frankly, whether our nation is off track. I absolutely believe, as do the majority of Americans, that we are dramatically off track.”

 Video: Watch intire Merkley interview

The seat is expected to be one of about a dozen that's targeted by Democrats hoping to get to a 60-vote majority in the Senate, so Merkley was expecting great support from the national Democratic committee.

 Video: Watch intire Smith interview

“I think what Oregonians recognize is that I vote with my party when they’re right, like keeping taxes low and regulation modest, protecting rural people and those fragile economies. But I vote against my party when they’re wrong, like reckless Medicaid cuts and children’s health issues, a range of environmental issues and certainly when it comes to an open-ended Iraq war, to bring our troops home safely, swiftly and honorably,” Sen. Smith said during an interview on KGW-TV Wednesday morning.

National Democrats have already signaled their interest in the race, with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pouring $300,000 into television ads in the waning weeks of the primary as Smith ran his own ads attacking Merkley.

On Tuesday, Merkley picked up on the refrain of likely Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who won a resounding victory in the Oregon primary on Tuesday.

"Together we can change the direction of our nation," he said, as the crowd roared back "Yes, we can," echoing Obama's now famous call-and-response line.

Merkley also hinted at the playbook Democrats will use over the next five months, linking Smith's name with President Bush as much as possible in his speech.

"We stepped forward to put America on the path of change, and on the path to Gordon Smith's and George Bush's retirements," he told his cheering supporters.

Smith, meanwhile, has launched a carefully orchestrated campaign to burnish his moderate credentials, taking out a full-page newspaper ad featuring Democrats who have endorsed him and running a campaign ad that stresses his independence while softpedaling his GOP ties.

Oregon could also be home to one of the country's most intriguing Congressional match-ups in the fall. Democrat Darlene Hooley, who represents portions of the Portland suburbs and the mid-Willamette Valley, announced her retirement this winter, opening up a rare swing district in which Republicans have a shot at picking off a Democrat-held seat.

Lake Oswego businessman Mike Erickson emerged Tuesday as the winner of the GOP primary, but he could be dragged down by allegations released by his Republican primary opponent, former state GOP chair Kevin Mannix, who charged late in the campaign that Erickson had paid for a former girlfriend's abortion after impregnating her.

Erickson has denied the allegations and on Tuesday he said the results showed "people are tired of negative campaigns, tired of lies."