Tim Phillips, Republican, who ran in the primaries for the House of Representatives, from Oregon’s 1st District. (Photo: Courtesy, www.phillipsforcongress.com)

Tim Phillips, whose mother is of Indian origin, was defeated in the Republican primaries for the U.S. House from Oregon’s 1st District. He was defeated by Iranian-born Goli Ameri, who will face off with incumbent Democrat David Wu.

According to unofficial results declared with 99 percent of the vote counted, Ameri won 49 percent (25,019), Jason Meshell 27 percent (13,694), and Tim Phillips 24 percent (12,426). Oregonians, unlike other state citizens, vote solely through a mail-in ballot.

“We knew by about 8:30 p.m. It was a huge disappointment and I’m sure that’s what Tim would say,” Phillips’ campaign manager Renee Cannon told News India-Times. “It was a three-way race. Had we had Jason Meshell out of the race, we would have picked up almost all of his votes.”

She indicated that Phillips had no plans to leave politics but needed time to think out what was best and get his business back on track again.

Ameri, who at one time had been worried that her Iranian heritage may come in the way of winning, was endorsed by The Oregonian, the largest paper, though Phillips received the support of several other papers. Meshell, according to observers, may have received the more Conservative voter support in the district. Also, with several races going on, Cannon maintained, the 1st District Congressional race may not have got the attention it deserved. According to some reports, total voter turnout was less than 40 percent.

During the campaign, Phillips focused on Ameri’s out-of-state funding, but this did not seemed to have stirred voters in the 1st District that covers part of Multnomah County and all of Washington, Yamhill, Clatsop and Columbia counties.

Phillips later congratulated Ameri, visiting her at Benson Hotel where her victory party was being held.

Son of a plumber and a public school teacher mother who was a native of New Delhi, Phillips was born in 1966 in California. He went to public school and worked his way through Pepperdine University. After graduation he moved to Oregon where in 1992, with little capital and only two phones, he started Phillips & Company Securities. The company today has 50 employees who serve some 8,000 individuals and businesses in the Northwest and throughout the U.S.