Despite surging Democratic voter registration in Oregon's 5th Congressional District, Michael Erickson's campaign said it remains confident that Erickson's fiscal conservative values, balanced with his outlook on energy and health care, will attract voters from both parties to the Lake Oswego businessman.

According to the Secretary of State's office, at the beginning of the year Republicans held a slight advantage in voter registration. But as the race heads toward the general election, Erickson (R-Lake Oswego) and other Republicans running in the district are looking at a 20,000 voter gap in Republican voter registration numbers.

Still, Erickson's campaign manager Jeff Harvey said that the numbers were due to an exciting Democratic primary, and would not necessarily affect the general election.

"There were people switching across party lines to vote for Obama or Hillary Clinton, and voters have just not crossed back yet," Harvey said.

In an Oregonian article written by Steve Mays on Tuesday, Erickson's primary opponent, Kevin Mannix (R-Salem), warned that a conservative was going to have more trouble getting elected in the 5th.

"Politically, I'm not so sure a straightforward conservative would be able to make as much progress in the district now," Mannix told Mays.

But Harvey said that sentiment did not necessarily mean doom for Erickson.

"The district is diverse, but voters in the 5th Congressional District want a fiscal conservative," Harvey said. "Mike is a conservative on fiscal issues, definitely. But he also has energy ideas and health care ideas that might not match up with the Republican Party."