2 Oregon House Primaries Will Test Progressive Clout

Oregon Democrats are set to cast ballots in congressional primaries on Tuesday, where two competitive House races could affect both the party’s chances of taking back the House and the relative strength of progressives and moderates inside the House Democratic Caucus.

In Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, former Democratic nominee Jamie McLeod-Skinner is competing with state Rep. Janelle Bynum, the national Democrats’ pick, for the chance to take on Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

And in Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, a solid Democratic seat that contains most of Portland, Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal is locked in a tight race with state Rep. Maxine Dexter, a physician favored by pro-Israel donors and deep-pocketed outside groups.

A House Seat Democrats Can’t Afford To Lose

Last election cycle, McLeod-Skinner, a progressive small-business owner and former civil servant from central Oregon, unseated centrist Rep. Kurt Schrader in a contentious primary in Oregon’s 5th. Schrader, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and corporate-backed super PACs heavily outspent McLeod-Skinner and her backers, but McLeod-Skinner capitalized on the new makeup of the district and on Schrader’s obstruction of President Joe Biden’s prescription drug price negotiations.

But in November, McLeod-Skinner lost the seat to Chavez-DeRemer, a former mayor of Happy Valley. Chavez-DeRemer and national Republicans seized on McLeod-Skinner’s ties to progressive groups, such as the Working Families Party, and her government work in the San Francisco Bay Area to paint her as an anti-police radical at a moment of growing suburban backlash to Portland’s influential activist left. The election’s outcome ― in