PORTLAND, Ore. — Democratic state lawmaker Janelle Bynum maintained a razor-thin lead over Republican incumbent Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the heated race for Oregon's 5th Congressional District as of Wednesday night.
Both the Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum campaigns have been relatively tight-lipped since results started coming down Tuesday, declining to make appearances and issuing only short statements of a similar tenor — remarking on the closeness of the race and thanking their supporters.
"We are still waiting for final results for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, but it's imperative that every lawful vote is counted, and our team will continue to monitor the returns," Bynum said, in part. "We are confident in our path to victory."
“The initial results have shown this is a close race, which we all expected. With over 100,000 left to be counted, I encourage everyone to have patience as counties continue to count their ballots," part of Chavez-DeRemer's statement said.
In Clackamas County, election workers were making up lost ground after their mail ballot sorter broke down last week. As of Monday, the county clerk said her team was back on track, having rebounded from the mechanical issues.
INTERACTIVE MAPS: County-by-county election results for key Oregon, Washington races
As of Tuesday night, voter turnout in the county had hit an estimated 71%. Clackamas County counted about 228,000 ballots received, with 153,000 counted. Another 18,000 or more were tallied Wednesday.
"We are exactly where we need to be. As I mentioned before, we expected to have 150,000 ballots released in election night reporting last night, and we exceeded that measure," said Catherine McMullen, the county clerk. "We are going to have another strong result released today. That will have a number of ballots in it and results released tomorrow and the next day as well."
Those additional results did little to move the needle in the race, with each candidate earning just over 9,000 votes from Clackamas County. Bynum held a lead of less than 8,000 votes over Chavez-DeRemer. With thousands of ballots still to count, the toss-up district remained too close to call.
When Oregon lawmakers completed redistricting after the 2020 Census, adding in Oregon's 6th Congressional District, they made substantial changes to the makeup of the 5th District. Where once it included areas southeast of Portland, all of Salem and out west to a stretch of the coast, the new map lost the coast, lost Salem proper and instead extended east, picking up Bend.
The 2022 election season proved that these boundary changes had an impact on the district's voting habits. In the primary that year, Democrats ousted longtime centrist Congressman Kurt Schrader in favor of progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinner.
But in the general election of 2022, McLeod-Skinner lost the race to Chavez-DeRemer, the former mayor of Happy Valley — one of a few surprise outcomes that helped shape Republicans' narrow control of the U.S. House.
That said, the 5th District has substantially more registered Democrats than Republicans, even if both are dwarfed by the number of unaffiliated voters. Democrats banked on being able to retake the district in 2024, and Bynum beat McLeod-Skinner in the primary before advancing to face Chavez-DeRemer.
For both candidates, the 2024 campaign was bitterly fought. Bynum attacked Chavez-DeRemer for her endorsement of now President-elect Donald Trump and support of House Republican leadership, as well as her past support for anti-abortion legislation. Chavez-DeRemer fired back at Bynum's past support for Oregon's Measure 110, police accountability laws and early release for certain prisoners during COVID-19.
Just as in 2022, the outcome of this race could have a measurable impact on who controls the U.S. House.