Jamie McLeod-Skinner to Kurt Schrader: “You Have Very Soft Hands”

The challenger derided the incumbent for bucking hay bare-handed.

HANDS ON: Kurt Schrader's campaign photo of bucking hay. (Courtesy of the Schrader campaign.)
By Aaron Mesh

“I’ve shaken your hands. You have very soft hands.”

That’s what Jamie McLeod-Skinner said to U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) during a recent WW endorsement interview. McLeod-Skinner, who is challenging the seven-term congressman from the left in the Democratic primary, derided Schrader for a campaign mailer that showed him bucking hay with his bare hands. “If you work for a living, you have calluses on your hands,” Schrader said. That’s what drew McLeod-Skinner’s appraisal of his palms.

Watch the full exchange here:

That comment was just one memorable moment amid WW’s nearly three dozen joint interviews of candidates in contested May races. Watch all the videos at wweek.com/tags/endorsement-highlights.

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