Current:Home > MyDemocrat Janelle Bynum flips Oregon’s 5th District, will be state’s first Black member of Congress -Thrive Financial Network
Democrat Janelle Bynum flips Oregon’s 5th District, will be state’s first Black member of Congress
View
Date:2025-04-18 20:28:09
Follow AP’s coverage of the election and what happens next.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democrat Janelle Bynum has flipped Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and will become the state’s first Black member of Congress.
Bynum, a state representative who was backed and funded by national Democrats, ousted freshman GOP U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Republicans lost a seat that they flipped red for the first time in roughly 25 years during the 2022 midterms.
“It’s not lost on me that I am one generation removed from segregation. It’s not lost on me that we’re making history. And I am proud to be the first, but not the last, Black member of Congress in Oregon,” Bynum said at a press conference last Friday. “But it took all of us working together to flip this seat, and we delivered a win for Oregon. We believed in a vision and we didn’t take our feet off the gas until we accomplished our goals.”
The contest was seen as a GOP toss up by the Cook Political Report, meaning either party had a good chance of winning.
Bynum had previously defeated Chavez-DeRemer when they faced off in state legislative elections.
Chavez-DeRemer narrowly won the seat in 2022, which was the first election held in the district after its boundaries were significantly redrawn following the 2020 census.
The district now encompasses disparate regions spanning metro Portland and its wealthy and working-class suburbs, as well as rural agricultural and mountain communities and the fast-growing central Oregon city of Bend on the other side of the Cascade Range. Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by about 25,000 in the district, but unaffiliated voters represent the largest constituency.
A small part of the district is in Multnomah County, where a ballot box just outside the county elections office in Portland was set on fire by an incendiary device about a week before the election, damaging three ballots. Authorities said that enough material from the incendiary device was recovered to show that the Portland fire was also connected to two other ballot drop box fires in neighboring Vancouver, Washington, one of which occurred on the same day as the Portland fire and damaged hundreds of ballots.
veryGood! (17)
Related
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Pink denies flying Israeli flags; 'Priscilla' LA premiere canceled amid Israeli-Palestinian war
- Former Austrian chancellor to go on trial over alleged false statements to parliamentary inquiry
- Venezuela’s government and US-backed faction of the opposition agree to work on electoral conditions
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- Florida parents face charges after 3-year-old son with autism found in pond dies
- 'Nightmare': Family of Hamas hostage reacts to video of her pleading for help
- As Walter Isaacson and Michael Lewis wrote, their books' heroes became villains
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Maren Morris Files For Divorce From Husband Ryan Hurd After 5 Years of Marriage
Ranking
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Former AP videojournalist Yaniv Zohar killed in Hamas attack at home with his family
- The latest college campus freebies? Naloxone and fentanyl test strips
- Destruction at Gaza hospital increases stakes for Biden’s trip to Israel and Jordan
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Where to watch 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'
- AP PHOTOS: The death toll soars on war’s 11th day, compounding misery and fueling anger
- Marine veteran says he was arrested, charged after Hertz falsely accused him of stealing rental car: It was hell
Recommendation
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
Justice Amy Coney Barrett says it would be a good idea for Supreme Court to adopt ethics rules
Justice Department investigates possible civil rights violations by police in New Jersey capital
Indonesia’s ruling party picks top security minister to run for VP in next year’s election
The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: A true story of love and evil
Disney attorneys want to question former administrator in lawsuit with DeSantis appointees
Koolaburra by UGG Sale: Keep Your Toes Toasty With Up to 55% Off on Boots, Slippers & More