Last-Minute Outside Spending Floods Oregon’s 5th Congressional District Race

The same PAC that spent $1.7 million on Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District has turned its eye to Oregon’s 5th.

Janelle Bynum (Mick Hangland-Skill)
By Sophie Peel

Two national Democratic political action committees have poured more than $1.1 million into the Democratic primary for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District Democratic in recent days, giving a last-minute boost to state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Happy Valley), who’s running against Terrebone engineer Jamie McLeod-Skinner. The winner will face incumbent U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) in November.

The Mainstream Democrats PAC spent $379,000 to support Bynum and spent another $379,000 to oppose McLeod-Skinner, elections databases show.

The 314 Action Fund, which in recent weeks spent over $1.7 million on Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District race, has also spent $473,000 to boost Bynum.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a conservative group, spent $10,000 to oppose McLeod-Skinner, while the Working Families Party spent $7,776 to support her.

The 314 Action Fund received significant press coverage in recent weeks after it spent an eye-popping $1.7 million to prop up Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Portland) in her bid for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District against Susheela Jayapal. The PAC does not have to disclose its donors until May 20, the day before ballots are due for the primary, but The Intercept reported May 3 that two members of Congress speaking on background said the real source of the money for much of 314′s spending against Jayapal are donors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which opposes Jayapal’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza.


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