Brownlow: Spoiler or Sideshow in Smith's Senate Race?

Third-party candidate Dave Brownlow won little more than 5 percent of the vote in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

And it's likely most of the Constitution Pray candidate's votes came at the expense of Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, a two-term incumbent defeated by Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley.

But did Brownlow make the difference?

He did best in rural, more isolated Oregon counties, where Smith also did well. And if all his votes had gone to Smith, the senator might be headed back for a third term.

But Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts says, "You cannot assume every Brownlow voter would have been a Smith voter."

Merkley had a 47,000-vote lead as of Thursday afternoon with about 16 percent of the expected vote yet to be counted. Brownlow had 86,000 votes.

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