Bynum Trouncing McLeod-Skinner in 5th Congressional District Race

If she wins, Bynum will face off against Republican incumbent Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election.

Janelle Bynum (Whitney McPhie)
By Sophie Peel

As votes are counted in Oregon on Tuesday evening, state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Happy Valley) holds a commanding lead over engineer and lawyer Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District.

Bynum has 70% of the vote in early returns to McLeod-Skinner’s 30%. McLeod-Skinner is unlikely to overcome that lead as more votes are counted.

Should Bynum win, she will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) in the November general election.

The race between Bynum and McLeod-Skinner heated up in recent months, fueled by news reports (including reporting by WW) of allegations that McLeod-Skinner had bullied campaign staffers in two different election cycles.

McLeod-Skinner has run for office in Oregon three times now, all unsuccessfully. In May 2022, she upset the longtime Democratic incumbent in the 5th Congressional District, Kurt Schrader, and advanced to the general election, where she narrowly lost to former Happy Valley Mayor Chavez-DeRemer.

Bynum has shown an ability to pass legislation with bipartisan support over the four terms she’s served in the Legislature. Bynum received a last-minute push from several political action committees that spent nearly half a million dollars to prop up her candidacy. One of those PACs is the same group that spent $2.2 million to support Rep. Maxine Dexter’s candidacy for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District.

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