This is part of a series of stories on the candidates running in the May 21 primary election. Ballots will be mailed to voters May 1.
Voters will choose between Oregon state Rep. Janelle Bynum and attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the May 21 primary election for the Democratic nomination in Oregon’s 5th congressional district, which encompasses all of Linn County, most of Clackamas and Deschutes counties, and parts of Marion and Multnomah counties.
The winner will face incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the November general election.
Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon’s only Republican congresswoman, does not have a primary opponent. She narrowly won the 2022 general election, defeating McLeod-Skinner, who had defeated seven-term incumbent Kurt Schrader in the Democratic primary that year.
Bynum, meanwhile, twice defeated Chavez-DeRemer in 2016 and 2018 for state House District 51.
McLeod-Skinner is an attorney and engineer and public servant.
Bynum is a four-term member of the state House and a small business owner. She's been endorsed by Gov. Tina Kotek, as well as by former governors Barbara Roberts and Kate Brown.
The Statesman Journal asked the candidates the same questions about issues important to the district. The following is what they had to say.
Priorities for Oregon and the country
Bynum said her top three issues as a member of Congress would be voting rights, abortion rights and lowering prescription drug costs.
“In Congress, I will achieve progress on those issues by fighting to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is meant to bolster and expand on the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Bynum said.
“I will work to codify Roe v. Wade into statute, and I will push to expand upon the initial list of prescription drugs outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act to be subject to Medicare drug pricing negotiation," she said.
McLeod-Skinner said her priority is “to provide safe and healthy communities where families can thrive.”
“To accomplish this, we need to address and prioritize both the big picture issues — protecting our Democracy and fundamental rights (voting rights, access to abortion healthcare, contraception and fertility treatments, right to organize), the environmental crisis impacting the rampant wildfires, drought, and heat domes — as well as the kitchen table issues of the cost of living — housing, healthcare, prescription drugs, education, and retirement,” McLeod-Skinner said.
She emphasized that she doesn’t take corporate PAC money because she believes in being accountable to everyday Oregonians.
Expanding access to affordable housing
“Congress needs to increase Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and use it to target affordable housing development, creating incentives for the prioritization of affordable housing,” McLeod-Skinner said.
“We need to make investments in municipal infrastructure — water, sewer, electrical, and Internet — to enable cities to increase density to “build up, not out,” she said.
Bynum cited her record in the Oregon Legislature working on efforts to lower the cost of housing, protect tenants and ensure low-income earners can pay their utility bills.
She said she would continue that fight in Congress, supporting policies such as limits on hedge funds owning housing, funding for high school skilled trades exploration and limitations on single-family zoning.
Expanding access to quality, affordable health care
Bynum said she would protect Medicare, expand Medicaid and fight to lower prescription drug prices.
“I think focusing on preventative care, especially in poor and rural communities, is critical to lowering health care costs overall,” she said. “This means that the country needs to increase the number of residency opportunities, continue and increase support for the National Health Service Corps, and tackle prescription drug pricing, without disincentivizing innovation, research and development.”
McLeod-Skinner said she supports a public-private system that ensures a baseline of healthcare for everyone, with the opportunity for add-on, private coverage.
“We should be providing physical and mental/behavioral healthcare to all Americans,” she said. “Nobody should have to choose between putting food on their table, filling a prescription or seeing a doctor when they’re sick.”
She also supports limiting the power of pharmacy benefit managers, and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices on all prescription drugs.
Changing reproductive health care laws
McLeod-Skinner said she would propose legislation “to codify our fundamental right to make decisions for our own bodies, including accessing abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments.”
She also would propose legislation to overturn the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions through federal programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and Indian Health Services.
Bynum said one of her top priorities as a state representative has been reproductive justice.
“I’m the only candidate in this race with a proven record of fighting to protect the right to choose,” Bynum said. “I sponsored, and voted for a law to ensure Oregonians have the same rights as they did under Roe v. Wade. I also sponsored and voted for a law to protect mothers from surprise medical bills for out-of-network births and voted to require insurance coverage for abortion and contraceptives.”
“At the federal level, I am committed to protecting and expanding access to reproductive care by codifying Roe v. Wade,” she said.
Addressing immigration
Bynum said she plans to “advocate for reforms that address the root causes of migration, including economic inequality and violence in other countries.”
“My approach emphasizes creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, protecting the rights of asylum seekers, and implementing humane and fair immigration policies that prioritize family unity and human dignity,” she said. “I also want to ensure that our border operations have the resources they need and that our immigration system can process asylum hearings that are fast, fair, and final.”
McLeod-Skinner said the U.S. needs to improve the processing of applications for asylum-seekers and for those who have been working and paying taxes in the country.
“This is a non-partisan issue, or should be. Farmers and ranchers in Oregon have suffered from a lack of workers due to the inefficiencies at the border. That hurts our economy,” she said. “I would also propose legislation to provide more efficient pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients and family reunification.”
Mitigating the effects of climate change
“The big picture perspective is that we need to make a just transition to renewable energy and clean energy through the development of a renewable energy grid and improved power storage,” McLeod-Skinner said. “We can also be expanding the programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
“We also have to address the extreme weather impacts that are already here: wildfires, drought, heat domes, and intense ice storms,” she said. “We need to build more community resilience hubs and networks throughout our state, in urban and rural areas, to improve emergency preparedness and response, especially among the most vulnerable communities that experience disproportionate impacts.”
Bynum noted that Deschutes County, which is the second-largest county in the district, is constantly under the threat of wildfires and extreme weather.
“As a rapidly growing community, responsible development is reliant on our efforts, as leaders, to address climate change quickly while ensuring that our economies are able to continue to grow and adapt to a changing climate,” she said.
“We know that climate change also disproportionately impacts underserved communities,” she said. “It is important that we not only protect our environment, but that we create an economy that builds green infrastructure.”
Campaign fundraising
Between June 21, 2023, and March 31, 2024, Bynum raised $942,234 and spent $381,413, leaving $560,821 cash on hand, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission data.
Between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, McLeod-Skinner raised $651,974 and spent $384,325, leaving $313,768 cash on hand.
Chavez-DeRemer, who doesn’t have a primary opponent, has raised $3.1 million and spent $1.3 million during the same time period, leaving $1.9 million cash on hand.
Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips:tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at@Tracy_Loew
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