[Oregon Public Broadcasting/AP] Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer has won the open U.S. House seat in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, flipping the district for the GOP in a hard-fought contest that drew millions in outside money to the state.Chavez-DeRemer’s victory makes her the first Latina congresswoman from Oregon.Can't quickly find her birthplace; wondering of she fits the Dems theory of new voters always vote (D).
The district was previously held for seven terms by moderate Democrat Rep. Kurt Schrader and was targeted by the GOP, which saw the 5th as vulnerable after the long-time incumbent's primary defeat by progressive candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner.
The 5th was significantly redrawn following the 2020 U.S. Census to include parts of more conservative central Oregon, and trended slightly less blue this election. Democrats still hold a slight advantage in voter registration, but both campaigns focused on the roughly one-third of unaffiliated voters in the district.
Chavez-DeRemer, a small business owner and former mayor of the Portland suburb of Happy Valley, built her campaign around concerns over homelessness and rising crime in Portland, which neighbors some of the district’s suburban communities.
McLeod-Skinner, an attorney and regional emergency coordinator, previously ran unsuccessfully for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018. She sought to highlight Chavez-DeRemer’s shifting stance on abortion and painted her as a far-right candidate who was too conservative for the district.