Rural Oregon is pretty red-- but that isn't where most Oregonians live-- and they vote for Democrats. Last year Oregon's 7 electoral votes went to Biden after he won the state 1,340383 (56.45%) to 958,448 (40.37)-- a significantly stronger margin for Biden than Hillary's 11 point win in 2016. Biden's total was the biggest of any presidential candidate in history and he flipped two red counties blue-- Marion (Salem) and Deschutes (Bend). Still, there are some extremely backward counties in the state, as bad as anything in rural Texas or Wyoming or Mississippi. Harney and Grant counties went for Trump with over 77% and Lake Count have Trump a 79.5% to 19.1% win over Biden.
On May 1, we introduced a crackpot state legislator, Mike Nearman, who had just been criminally charged for surreptitiously allowing domestic terrorists into the state Capitol, endangering the lives of his colleagues. Nearman was elected in 2014 after beating Jim Thompson (R), a mainstream conservative incumbent, in a primary. Nearman's main issue is a vehement anti-union perspective, although he's also very anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-Choice and, of course, anti-mask. The 23rd House District includes Dallas and runs just to the west of Salem, Albany and Corvallis. It is southwest of Portland and northwest of Eugene and includes portions of Benton, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. In November he was reelected against Democrat Sean Scorvo 23,884 (58.3%) to 14,292 (34.9%).
While Pelosi flounders around unable to do anything about investigating the deadly but failed Trump coup and insurrection, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek appointed a bipartisan committee to consider expulsion and introduced a resolution that says if two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives concur, Nearman would be expelled from the House. The committee will meet later in the week to consider the resolution.
Nearman's terrorists got in through a side door he left open for them, spraying chemical irritants at the police who eventually expelled them from the building while rioters outside broke windows and beat up journalists.
[S]ecurity camera video emerged showing Nearman opening a door to the capitol, which was closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing protesters to enter. Nearman allegedly told people in a video days earlier that he would let them in if they texted him, and he provided his cell phone number.
...“The severity of Representative Nearman’s actions and last week’s revelation that they were premeditated require a special committee to immediately consider expelling him from the House of Representatives,” Kotek said. “He knowingly put the physical safety of everyone in the Capitol-- lawmakers, staff and law enforcement-- in jeopardy.”
Her resolution cites the Oregon Constitution, which empowers the House of Representatives to punish a representative for disorderly behavior.
The 60-member House has 37 Democrats and 23 Republicans, so Kotek needs at least a few Republicans voting with her to expel Nearman. Monday 22 or the 23 House Republicans released a letter "strongly recommending" Nearman resign. They wrote that "Given the newest evidence that has come to light regarding the events of December 21, 2020, it is our belief as friends and colleagues that it is in the best interests of your caucus, your family, yourself, and the state of Oregon for you to step down from office."
So far Pelosi has done next to nothing about House Republicans who also encouraged and aided the mob that sacked the Capitol. At the very minimum, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Mad Cawthorn and several others conspired with the terrorists, one of the reasons McCarthy has opposed establishing an investigative committee. Pelosi could easily establish one-- similar to the Benghazi Committee-- but had refused to do anything, frozen in debilitating fear of political ramifications.