Vote Chris Beck for Oregon’s Congressional District 2

Beyond the talk of flipping the U.S. House or sticking it to the Trump regime, the facts are plain: Cliff Bentz doesn’t seem to care much about the people of his district.

The Oregon Health Plan covered some 70% of kids in Oregon’s large 2^nd Congressional district in 2025. Over 40% of people in the district overall have been at least recently covered by Medicaid or the OHP. But in 2026, close to 10% of those may have already found themselves without coverage due to H.B. 1, better known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Sitting Rep. Cliff Bentz voted for that and championed it during numerous interviews in the run-up to its passage. That alone should make a voter in the vast district, which encompasses most all of Oregon east of the mountains, and parts of Medford and Ashland too, think twice about re-electing him, and that doesn’t consider the number of people facing food insecurity due to cuts and/or increased reporting requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Chris Beck Credit: Chris Beck for Congress

In some quarters, you might find Cliff Bentz railing about the national debt; in others, he’ll defend the passage of that “beautiful bill” that is moving the nation backward in terms of public health and so much more. That bill alone added up to $4.7 trillion to the national debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget. Bentz has done nothing to move toward the end of a so-called war (not approved by Congress) that is hitting American pocketbooks hard at the gas pump. He’s stood behind a president whose tariffs have caused increases in consumer prices and done damage to our relationships with our closest allies. All of these things hit home in the increased costs of transportation, energy, and food.

In addition, Bentz has made very little effort to reach out and hear the concerns or answer directly to his constituents. It’s been over 500 days since he conducted an in-person town hall in his vast district, according to a tracker on the website of his Democratic challenger, Chris Beck. Bentz has refused to debate Beck ahead of the election, either. Local TV station KTVZ invited both candidates to a debate to take place on Oct. 21; Bentz declined, so the show will now include just Beck.

With experience in various levels of government — including a three-term stint as an Oregon state legislator in the 1990s and early 2000s, and time working for a federal agency, Beck is perhaps not the type of challenger Bentz would prefer to see. Beck is experienced, well-educated, knows the issues and can speak with authority on wildfires, logging, health coverage, Social Security and other topics of interest to the people in the district. But if the idea here is to fly under the radar in the 2^nd Congressional District and to appear as if there is no race at all to be won, then Bentz is succeeding. Pretending this race doesn’t exist gives him the best chance at simply riding that “incumbent” train to the next session of Congress. Right now, the dynamic in Washington allows Bentz to quietly move up the ladder on that MAGA wave. But come November, a vote for Bentz may very well be a vote for a party whose wave has crested.

This is not the type of representation the people in a giant swath of Oregon deserve. Our vote is for Chris Beck for Oregon’s 2^nd Congressional District.

This article appears in the Source October 8, 2026.