State Rep. Dwayne Yunker, R-Grants Pass, has a strong lead over challenger Seth Benham in the Republican primary, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.

Yunker had 62.7% of the vote compared to 36.8% for Benham in the contest to keep his House District 3 seat representing most of Josephine County in the Oregon Leglisature. The district includes Grants Pass and Cave Junction.

The winner of the Republican primary will advance to the November general election to face off against Democratic nominee Susan Fischer-Maki and nonaffiliated candidate Cobey Giesler.

Yunker is a real estate professional and former Grants Pass City Council member, while Benham is a current councilor and owner of a marketing business.

“My base has always been solid,” Yunker said of the majority support from voters in the Republican primary.

If he wins in November, Yunker said he wants to help Asante become financially stronger.

Asante, which runs hospitals in Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland, announced it plans to lay off 300 workers to close a looming $50 million budget hole. Asante said it’s facing healthcare funding cuts championed by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, and costly regulations imposed by Democrats in the Oregon Legislature.

“Asante is really struggling. It’s vital for everybody in our community to have a great hospital,” Yunker said of Asante Three Rivers Medical Center in Grants Pass and the rest of the Asante system.

He said he wants to work with Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature on addressing homelessness in Oregon.

Oregon has a state law allowing homeless people to sue cities and counties if they don’t think local homeless camping regulations are objectively reasonable. The city of Grants Pass was sued last year and settled the case.

Portland has poured money into homeless shelters, but homelessness has increased.

“All sides want some kind of change,” Yunker said. “Hopefully we can come up with a different compromise. Homelessness keeps growing in Oregon. I want to work with both sides — Democrats and Republicans together — on a change.”

He said Oregon also has to become more business friendly. He said he hopes either current Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, will become more supportive of businesses, or be replaced by a pro-business Republican.

“It won’t get better unless we change our thinking in Oregon,” Yunker said.

Oregon ranks among the worst states for its business climate.

Benham entered the race in part due to his frustrations over Yunker’s failure to get infrastructure funding for the city of Grants Pass in Yunker’s first two years in the Oregon Legislature.

However, after city and business leaders teamed up with Yunker to lobby harder for funding this year, the Grants Pass area netted $3.5 million in state funding for sewage infrastructure for an underdeveloped industrial area and improvements to the Grants Pass Downs horse racing track and Josephine County Fairgrounds.

Yunker has made a name for himself in the Oregon Legislature with his conservative stances on social issues and strong record of pro-business votes.