PORTLAND, Ore. — The first round of early results Tuesday night show Oregon State Rep. Janelle Bynum far ahead in the Democratic primary race for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, with a substantial lead over attorney and engineer Jamie McLeod-Skinner. The Oregonian and the Associated Press called the race for Bynum shortly after the results were posted.
Incumbent Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
"I am beyond honored and grateful to be the Democratic nominee for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District," Bynum wrote in part in a statement Friday night. "As a mother of four, I’m running to make the future brighter for them and every child in Oregon – for their education, their health, and their opportunities here at home. I’m running because working families in Oregon who are struggling with rising costs need a fighter who will deliver for them, not special interests, and I have a proven track record of delivering solutions to the biggest challenges facing our community."
The winner of the Democratic primary will go on to face Chavez-DeRemer in November as Democrats attempt to recapture a seat that the party held for years but lost in 2022 after the district's borders were heavily altered following the 2020 census, shifting the map away from the coast and toward the southeast to encompass Bend.
McLeod-Skinner was the Democratic candidate for the seat in 2022, the first election after redistricting; she positioned herself to the left of longtime officeholder Kurt Schrader and ousted him with an upset victory in the primary, but then lost to Chavez-DeRemer in the general election.
"Being able to represent people with the level of authenticity that I have, I think that’s why you’re seeing the numbers we’re seeing tonight and why we’ll be victorious in November," Bynum said to her supporters Tuesday night.
She pledged to protect abortion access and prioritize solutions to the housing crisis, as well as support Oregon's economy and job growth. And she referenced her two victories against Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon state legislative races in prior elections, declaring that she was "ready to do it a third time."
"There’s so much at stake this November and the path to flipping the house, the majority, runs right through our district, and I’m ready to be your champion," she said.
McLeod-Skinner conceded Tuesday night, offering congratulations to Bynum and pledging to support her against Chavez-DeRemer.
"Now is a really important time to bring folks together and really focus on November, because there's so much at stake," she said.
"I'm honored to have such a strong coalition of support from Oregonians of all backgrounds – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents – and I'll continue fighting tirelessly to grow our movement so we can keep building a better Oregon by advancing commonsense solutions," Chavez-DeRemer said in part in a statement issued Tuesday night.
The redrawn district is still considered highly competitive, and during her first term Chavez-DeRemer has made an effort to cast herself as a relative moderate among her Republican congressional colleagues.
Metro Council President Lynn Peterson was the first prominent candidate to jump into the 5th District's 2024 race on the Democratic side of the ballot, but she was outpaced by Bynum and McLeod-Skinner in fundraising and dropped out in February, endorsing Bynum.
The primary race has grown more heated in the final stretch; the Associated Press reported last week that a new super PAC had begun funding a blitz of ads in support of McLeod-Skinner, using a firm known for supporting Republican candidates — which prompted the Bynum campaign to suggest that Republicans were trying to push McLeod-Skinner over the top in the primary because they view her as the safer opponent in November.