Suffice it to say that this is one of the toughest endorsements we’ve had to make this year — or any year, really. Here we have two strong Democrats running to be the Democratic nominee for our relatively new district, Congressional District 5. One, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, is one of the smartest people we’ve ever interviewed — a lawyer as well as an engineer — and a local who understands natural resources issues in a way that would serve Central Oregonians well. On the other hand, we have Janelle Bynum, an electrical engineer, small business owner and state legislator with a proven track record of success in Oregon politics.
Our locavore tendencies make us want to support the candidate who lives in our area, and who’s taken the time over many years and many elections to get to know the people and players of this community. McLeod Skinner is a gem.
But then come the more practical tendencies — the ones that say, when this race moves to the general election and pits one of these candidates against the incumbent, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, we’d like to see the candidate win who represents the values of this district as a whole. What we have seen from the person who presently represents us — Chavez-DeRemer — is that she does not represent our values. Heck, that might be a bit fuzzy, because in reality, we don’t know much about what Chavez-DeRemer stands for, because she pays little attention to this side of the district at all. But with all of that, we’re inclined to believe that Janelle Bynum is the candidate to be able to win the race against the incumbent and better represent us going forward.
Bynum has worked her way up in state politics, serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives since 2017. She’s faced off against Chavez-DeRemer for a state House seat twice, and won both times. That’s no minor accomplishment. If the Democrats voting in this May primary want to see this seat flipped back to blue, we think Bynum is their best chance of doing so.
Of course, if all of this sounds like strategy and politicking, it’s because that’s the name of the game. Democrats effectively ignored McLeod Skinner’s run last time, when in the primary she bested the longtime incumbent Kurt Schrader and apparently upset the party machine. That was an unfortunate turn of events that saw the better candidate losing in the general election. Now, though, when faced with the prospect of a rematch, it seems too much of a gamble for Democrats to stomach.
We have no doubt that either candidate — Bynum or McLeod Skinner — would have the smarts, the hustle and the temperament to serve us well in Congress. But the calculus about electability has to come into play, and on that front, our bet’s on Bynum.
Bynum possesses a warm, grounding energy that runs counter to the hard-charging style of some other politicians, and that’s one thing we liked about her on a personal level. On a professional level, she’s strong on societal issues such as access to abortion, and has enough of a track record to lean on to prove to voters that she’ll be productive in these areas. During her time in the Oregon House, she and her colleagues helped to preserve and expand Oregonians’ access to abortion. On behavioral health, she was the chief sponsor on a 2021 bill that increased recruitment and retention of the state’s mental health workforce — the start of addressing one of the big hurdles Oregon has faced in truly fixing our mental health and drug-treatment woes. This is evidence of her priorities — a stark difference from Chavez-DeRemer’s drumbeat about the border crisis and other MAGA-adjacent issues.
The way our current Congressional districts are drawn, CD5 is something of a Franken-district, encompassing the southeast portion of the Portland metro as well as Bend. It’s a tough district for any candidate to truly get a handle on, as it contains farms, suburbs and urban areas, and draws candidates from both the Portland metro as well as more rural ones, like McLeod Skinner. Bynum admits she is still in the “learning phase” of tackling the issues, such as groundwater and fire management, that stand out most to Central Oregonians, but based on her experience thus far, we believe she can get there, and can bring the dollars home that will help address those issues.
We have wholeheartedly endorsed Jamie McLeod Skinner in the past for her energy, ideas and intelligence. Yet in this May primary, our bet’s on Janelle Bynum.
This article appears in Source Weekly May 9, 2024.
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To The Source Weekly, if you truly believe in the mission of High Desert Food & Farm Alliance, Everyone deserves good food, you would understand why writing an editorial supporting McDonalds owner, Janelle Bynum, is totally against that. Your editorial is also a terrible mistake because, as an urban/suburban dweller, Janelle doesnt understand any of the issues we face here in Central Oregon. Jamie McLeod-Skinner understands the complex problems we face as farmers, ranchers and environmentally concerned citizens. Shes worked on water issues, and fire recovery, rehabilitating an entire community after it was decimated by wildfire. Janelle is totally over her head in understanding any international issues. Her answers at various forums have been scary in the lack of nuance and knowledge. Jamie has deep experience on the international front, from growing up in Africa, to helping in Bosnia/Kosovo as a civil engineer to rebuild vital infrastructure, to working to resettle immigrants in the US. Supporting the Democratic establishment doesnt help to further our goals in Central Oregon. It just perpetuates the lack of representation we have now, with all of the elected Congressional Representatives coming from a small area around Portland. I expected much better from The Source. You should be ashamed of your choice.
Well stated Source Weekly staff on the endorsement for the right person to represent Central Oregonians in District 5. Ms. Byrum is a proven leader and effective politician who worked her way up in state politics and serving her constituents in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2017. More importantly, she ran and won effective campaigns twice against Lori Chavez-DeRemer for a state House seat. Ms. McLeod-Skinner on the other hand is a perennial candidate who has sought a myriad of paid political positions across the state and never was able to convince the voters that her agendas would be effective and/or would truly represent the entire voter spectrum. She has become a modern day Harold Stassen, whose views have never matched those of her constituents.
Vote Janelle Byrum in May and again in November to make the Fifth District an example of a politician working for their constituents.
We had to make that tough assessment, too. This is a well thought through and reasoned opinion and endorsement. Janelle has spent time here touring projects in the works that can employ hundreds of people here in Central Oregon. I have met her personally, and like you liked her grounding energy.
I think she will be a real asset in a house divided.
Well said. While I would vote for McLeod-Skinner in November if she wins the primary, the fact of the matter is she’s lost every single Oregon general election she’s competed in. My primary interest in this contest is removing Chavez-DeRemer from Congress, so Bynum is the logical choice IMO.
This editorial says about Chavez-DeRemer: “She does not represent our values.” Who is “our”? I wasn’t aware that there is one set of values we are all supposed to embrace. The Source needs to get out of its little downtown neighborhood more often then maybe it might learn that there is no “our”.