CONGRESS

Senate 

Ron Wyden (D, I), incumbent

Jo Rae Perkins (R), Dan Pulju (Pacific Green), Chris Henry (Progressive)

You’d be hard pressed to find another senator dedicated to traveling throughout their home state like Sen. Ron Wyden. And while on the road, he says he’s always available to speak with whoever he sees while shopping at his favorite store: Fred Meyer. And, policy-wise, it’s nothing but net for the basketball-loving Wyden. Among his accomplishments during his current term are expanding crisis response teams modeled after CAHOOTS through Medicaid and holding pharmaceutical companies that raise drug prices accountable through an anti-price gouging provision in the Inflation Reduction Act law. With another term, Wyden says he’ll  find ways to create more housing, address wildfires and improve mental health resources. Whether he’s looking to improve the lives of residents in eastern Oregon hit by hailstorms or protect people trying to access reproductive services without having their data being used against them by anti-abortion zealots, Wyden says the best politics is doing your job. “And the best politics is doing policy,” he adds. 

U.S. Representative, 4th District

Enlarge

Val Hoyle (D, Working Families) 

Alek Skarlatos (R), Mike Beilstein (Progressive, Pacific Green), Levi Leatherberry (I, Libertarian), Jim Howard (Constitution) 

Rep. Peter DeFazio is a hard act to follow, and for years — long before the irascible yet kind of endearing congressman decided to retire — there has been speculation over who could take his place. Current Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner Val Hoyle fits the bill. She shares his scrappiness and ability to digest and discuss wonky topics without completely nerding out, and she’s also very much her own woman with a clear pro-worker, pro-small business, pro-health care platform. Her most well-known and well-funded opponent, Alek Skarlatos, is such a trainwreck he couldn’t get elected county commissioner in Douglas County. Still, in the current political atmosphere, we take nothing for granted. Hoyle advocates for abortion rights, Skarlatos, on the other hand, hits “like” on photos of underage girls in bikinis on social media. Vote Hoyle.

U.S. Representative, 5th District

Jamie McLeod-Skinner (D, I, WF) 

Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R)

We have been following Jamie McLeod-Skinner’s political efforts for a while now. We liked her when we first encountered her in 2018 running against Republican Congressman Greg Walden for the 2nd District seat, and we like her now that the redistricting has put her into the 5th District, where she unseated incumbent Democrat Kurt Schrader in the primary. She is pro-environment and pro-control over your own uterus. Her opponent Lori Chavez-DeRemer is campaigning on spurious attacks on Critical Race Theory and Trumpian calls of “America First.”