In a total upset Republican, Lori Chavez-DeRemer flipped a long-held Democratic seat in Oregon. This has put the GOP one step closer to a majority in the House of Representatives.
The Associated Press reported that Chavez-DeRemer beat Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District by 2 points. Chavez-DeRemer, a former mayor of Happy Valley, Ore., will be the first Republican woman to represent Oregon in the House. McLeod-Skinner is a radical leftist who had expressed support for the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.
“As mayor of Happy Valley, I was proud of my bipartisan track record, and it was critical to approach every issue through a non-partisan lens,” Chavez-DeRemer stated. “That is exactly what I promise to do as your next Congresswoman. This is a historic victory for Oregon, but the work starts now.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s victory was a bright spot in a disappointing election for Republicans. Many in the media projected major gains in the House and Senate but election-day estimations proved to be wrong. However, 11 races are left to be called, and with that in mind a Republican House majority may come down to just a few seats.
There were some bright spots to the midterm election. as Republicans notched big wins in New York, where the party’s tough-on-crime messaging helped topple four Democrats, including Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Sean Patrick Maloney.
Chavez-DeRemer ran as a moderate and frequently criticized her Democratic opponent as a radical. McLeod-Skinner permitted reckless government spending and high levels of crime. She referred to McLeod-Skinner, who was a city council member for eight years in Santa Clara, Calif., as “an out-of-touch San Francisco politician pretending to be an Oregonian.”
Democrat McLeod-Skinner ousted seven-term representative Kurt Schrader (D.) during the May primary. She dodged the leftist progressive label during the general election. Although she did receive endorsements from the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and Progressive Democrats of America.
McLeod-Skinner conceded the race on Sunday. Losing is not new for the long-term democrat as she lost her first run for Congress in 2018 against Republican Greg Walden in Oregon’s second district.
Schrader predicted in June that McLeod-Skinner’s decision to run to his left would hand Chavez-DeRemer the victory. The newly drawn district also played a role as the new boundaries wrapped around liberal enclaves in Portland, Salem, and Bend while retaining mostly conservative rural counties.
“I think people are exhausted with the extreme, far-right Trumpites,” Schrader told a local ABC affiliate. “I think they’re very concerned about the socialist drift on the Democrat left.”
