Of the 6 corrupt corporate Blue Dogs who joined the Republicans voting against raising the minimum wage-- Anthony Brindisi (NY), Joe Cunningham (SC), Kendra Horn (OK), Ben McAdams (UT), Xochitl Torres Small (NM) and Kurt Schrader (OR)-- only the last one, Schrader, wasn't defeated for reelection a few months later. By returning this crook to Congress, unwitting Democrats in OR-05 gave this Pfizer heir the opportunity to torpedo the Democrats' plan to finally allow Medicare to negotiate fair market prices for prescription drugs. And these are the same voters who were savvy enough to vote for Bernie in the primary instead of Hillary. Back then, OR-05 consisted of all or part of 7 counties and each voted for Bernie-- on the same day they also voted for Schrader!
Clackamas Co- 51.5% Bernie
Marion Co- 53.0% Bernie
Polk Co- 54.5% Bernie
Lincoln Co- 53.7% Bernie
Tillamook Co- 53.8% Bernie
Benton Co- 61.2% Bernie
Multnomah Co- 57.0% Bernie
I might add that Bernie also did well in the counties in the newly redrawn 5th, taking 53.3% in Deshcutes, 51.8% in Linn and 52.0% in Jefferson. The new 5th isn't just bluer, it's also more progressively oriented-- and becoming more so, with Bend growing rapidly and quickly transforming into a solid Democratic city.
Oregon was the first state to finish the 2020 redistricting-- and OR-05 looks very different. First off, it goes from D+2 to D+3. Secondly, it sheds the coastal counties, moves significantly eastward and is now made up primarily of parts of Clackamas, Deschutes and Linn counties and smaller pieces, Marion, Multnomah and Jefferson counties. Yesterday, Schrader was on Oregon Public Broadcast and he said he considers the new district OR-06 to be more his people and he is thinking about running there instead of OR-05. He has a poll in the field today asking about Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the woman who is already in the OR-05 and who, when she ran for Secretary of State last year, won overwhelmingly in western Deschutes County (Bend) that is in OR-05. And when she ran for Congress in OR-02-- an overwhelmingly red district-- she came closer than any Democrat had to winning it and did win the parts of the district that now make top around a third of the new OR-05. So... you can imagine why Schrader is scared and looking to go to another district.
Milwaukie mayor, Mark Gamba, who ran against Schrader last year and was thinking about challenging him again this year endorsed McLeod-Skinner, feeling she had a better chance to beat him. She officially launched her campaign today and you can donate to it on the Blue America Primary A Blue Dog page here.
She's basically running on her experience and expertise as an attorney, regional planner, and small business owner, in climate change, disaster recovery, and other tough issues facing Oregon families, including lack of affordable housing, education, and health care. She recently led disaster recovery as Interim City Manager in Talent, Oregon, a southern Oregon city that lost one-third of its homes and businesses to a devastating wildfire, successfully bringing in millions of dollars of emergency aid and assisting with the reconstruction of housing.
If elected, McLeod-Skinner would be Oregon’s first out LGBTQ+ member of Congress.
