Press

Oregon’s 5th is “a close contest that could determine control of the House of Representatives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 2024 
CONTACT: Blakely Wall, press@janellebynum.com 

Happy Valley, OR — In case you missed it, State Representative Janelle Bynum, Democratic candidate for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and her record-breaking campaign against Lori Chavez-DeRemer is consistently in the spotlight as one of the most competitive Congressional races this cycle. Outlets continue to highlight how this race “could determine control of the House of Representatives.”

The Washington Post recently highlighted Bynum’s appeal to both Democrats and Republicans, noting one Republican who said “Chavez-DeRemer’s Trump endorsement means that she will vote the party line.”

The Washington Post, Associated Press, and the New York Times have recently covered the race. Read the full Washington Post story below:

In close race that could tip House, candidates fight for the center | Washington Post
By: Marianna Sotomayor

In a close contest that could determine control of the House of Representatives, a Republican incumbent and her Democratic challenger appear to be competing for an unlikely title: most centrist.

In Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and state Rep. Janelle Bynum, her Democratic opponent, are both running as moderates, touting their bipartisan records and policymaking chops, while trying to cast each other as ineffective and extreme.

Their fight for middle ground will matter not just for the district, but also for the balance of power on Capitol Hill: If both parties keep hold of all the seats they represent, Democrats only need to flip four seats from Republicans to win back the House majority. They hope this district — which President Joe Biden would have won by eight percentage points in 2020 — will be one of them

[...]

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) personally asked Bynum to run, and House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took the unusual step of backing her over McLeod-Skinner in this year’s primary. The political arm of a group of 100 pragmatic House Democrats, the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, also invested significantly to boost Bynum.

“We could not afford to lose that seat again,” said Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), who serves as the NDCAF’s finance chair.

[...]

In most competitive districts across the country, voters are evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and independents. In this district, the largest bloc of registered voters are those who describe themselves as “nonaffiliated.” Communities here have historically backed moderate candidates regardless of the party identifier next to their name, even though the state reliably elects Democrats for president and Senate.

[...]

But Chavez-DeRemer’s incumbency also could cut against her.

Over the past two years, demands by far-right members of the GOP caucus often resulted in tough votes for moderate lawmakers such as Chavez-DeRemer, including one that would bar using federal funds to pay for a servicewoman’s abortion if she crossed state lines, which she supported.

Democrats have worked to tie Chavez-DeRemer to those sorts of policies. They have emphasized comments Chavez-DeRemer made in 2022 suggesting she would support a bill that would federally ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The congresswoman has pushed back, noting that she has not signed on to the Life of Conception Act, recently pledging to vote against any such bills, and helped influence House GOP leaders not to put any restrictive bills on the House floor for a vote.

[...]

Knocking on doors in Clackamas County on an unseasonably warm October morning, Bynum met two women who said they were supporting her because their top issue was reproductive rights — even though access is already protected in the state. Another woman said she was turning out to vote against “anything that the far right is trying to push that is just so against the Constitution.”

Later that afternoon, several home-care workers gathered at the Service Employees International Union potluck in Portland said they have endorsed Bynum because she has reliably explained how state bills could help or hurt the union.

[...]

“I’ve served a purple district for eight years now, and I have always had the opinion that everyone deserved to be represented,” Bynum said in an interview. “Doesn’t mean I always agree with every particular angle, but it’s important for me to be a good lawmaker and to listen.”

Bynum also must work to convince independents and moderate conservatives that a vote for Chavez-DeRemer amounts to a vote for Trump, whom Chavez-DeRemer endorsed once he became the Republican nominee.

Diane Klinkenberg, an 80-year-old registered Republican who knocked on doors for Bynum, said she believes Chavez-DeRemer’s Trump endorsement means that she will vote the party line, especially if he returns to the White House.

Asked whether there are many other Republicans who are willing to cross the aisle to vote against Chavez-DeRemer, Klinkenberg said she hadn’t met one yet. “I’m hoping,” she added.

Cristal DeJarnac, who is the SEIU local chapter’s vice president and has been knocking on doors for Bynum, said Bynum must work to win over Democrats who still believe McLeod-Skinner would better be better able to represent rural communities than Bynum and Chavez-DeRemer, who are from the Portland suburbs.

“I feel like the politicians that are running and want those votes, they need to play to them and not just play to the Portland metro area,” she said. “We all need a champion in Washington.”

###