俄勒冈州波特兰市。-七届众议员库尔特·施拉德，总统支持的中间派乔·拜登在俄勒冈州的民主党初选中，由于选票印刷问题，结果推迟了一个多星期，被进步挑战者杰米·麦克劳德-斯金纳击败。
该州第五国会选区的计票非常缓慢，因为数万张选票上印有模糊的条形码，使得计票机无法读取。该州第三大县克拉克马斯县的工作人员不得不手工将选票转移到新的选票上，以便进行统计。这一过程在周五继续进行，其他比赛还没有开始。
麦克劳德-斯金纳在重新划分的席位所覆盖的所有四个县都得到了当地民主党的支持，这一席位现在不太倾向于蓝色。在她的竞选活动中，她敦促采取更强有力的行动来应对气候变化，并抱怨施拉德过于保守。她还把施拉德描绘成一个政治家。在处方药价格等问题上，他已经失去了他所在政党的基础和大型制药公司的支持。
麦克劳德-斯金纳将在11月面对共和党人洛里·查韦斯-德雷默。查韦斯-德雷默是俄勒冈州欢乐谷的前市长。她表示，她将支持企业和警察，解决“我们南部边境的危机”
在推特上的一份声明中，麦克劳德-斯金纳感谢施拉德多年来的服务，并表示俄勒冈州的民主党人应该将比赛的结果视为“对我们想法的评估和对我们价值观的确认”
“从塞尔伍德到太阳河，俄勒冈人从未停止相信我们可以保护我们的家庭、我们的气候和我们的公民权利，”她写道。“俄勒冈人——这是你们的胜利。”
拜登让施拉德成为他今年的第一个支持者，但这并没有帮助这个地区的温和派民主党人，这个地区现在包括本德，这是该州发展最快的民主党地区之一，麦克劳德-斯金纳在这里的知名度更高。
施拉德投票反对拜登的一些优先事项，包括一项让医疗保险谈判处方药价格的省钱计划。一年前，他是民主党内仅有的两名投票反对1.9万亿美元疫情救助法案的成员之一，原因之一是他不支持增加最低工资。
无党派民意调查公司DHM研究的政治主任约翰·霍维克说，这些决定可能是他再次当选的原因。
“他是一个温和派，但这更具体到他反对党的问题，”他说。“最大的问题是他不愿意在处方药问题上支持民主党。你可以在许多不同的领域与你的政党决裂，但在党内一个非常突出、根深蒂固的位置——那是一个交易破坏者。”
还有待观察的是，麦克劳德-斯金纳是否会在共和党和民主党平分秋色的地区的大选中竞争激烈。他说，如果温和派选民认为她过于进步，民主党的席位可能会受到威胁。
共和党提名人查韦斯-德雷默得到了众议院共和党第三号人物、纽约州众议员埃利斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)的支持——查韦斯-德雷默在拥挤的初选中强调了这一支持。这可能会在从波特兰郊区延伸到俄勒冈州中部农村的重划区的更保守地区发挥作用。
“对我来说，这是一场胜负难分的比赛，候选人的质量很重要，”霍维克说。“在这个周期，俄勒冈州成为全国对话中心的机会比我近年来能想到的任何周期都高。”
Progressive ousts Biden-backed Schrader in Oregon primary
PORTLAND, Ore. --Seven-term U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, a centrist who was endorsed by PresidentJoe Biden, has been ousted in the Democratic primary in Oregon by progressive challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner after results were delayed more than a week by a ballot-printing issue.
The vote count in the state's 5th Congressional District was sloweed because tens of thousands of ballots were printed with blurry bar codes, making them unreadable by vote-counting machines. Workers in Clackamas County, the state's third-largest county, had to transfer votes by hand to fresh ballots so they could be tallied. That process continued Friday for other races yet to be called.
McLeod-Skinner had the backing of the local Democratic parties in all four counties covered by the redrawn seat, which now leans a little less blue. In her campaign, she urged stronger action to combat climate change and complained that Schrader was too conservative. She also portrayed Schrader as a politician who. had lost touch with his party's base and in the pocket of large pharmaceutical companies on issues like prescription drug prices.
McLeod-Skinner will face Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in November. Chavez-DeRemer is the former mayor of Happy Valley, Oregon. She has said she will support businesses and police and address “the crisis on our southern border.”
In a statement on Twitter, McLeod-Skinner thanked Schrader for his years of service and said Oregon Democrats should see the contest's outcome as “an evaluation of our ideas and as a confirmation of our values.”
“From Sellwood to Sunriver, Oregonians never stopped believing we can protect our families, our climate and our civil rights,” she wrote. “Oregonians — this is your victory.”
Biden made Schrader his first endorsement of the year but it didn't help the moderate Democrat in a district that now includes Bend, one of the state's fastest-growing Democratic areas where McLeod-Skinner had more name recognition.
Schrader has voted against some of Biden’s priorities, including a money-saving plan to let Medicare negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs. A year ago, he was one of only two members of his party to vote against a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill because, among several reasons, he did not support including an increase to the minimum wage.
Those decisions may be what cost him re-election, said John Horvick, political director at the nonpartisan public opinion firm DHM Research.
“He’s a moderate, but it’s more specific to the issues where he went against the party,” he said. “The big one is really his reluctance to support Democrats on prescription drugs. You can break with your party in a lot of different areas but a highly salient, deeply held position in the party — that was a deal breaker."
What remains to be seen is if McLeod-Skinner will compete well in the general election in a district that is split fairly evenly between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats' hold on the seat could be at risk if moderate voters perceive her as too progressive, he said.
The Republican nominee, Chavez-DeRemer, is endorsed by the third-ranking House Republican, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York — an endorsement Chavez-DeRemer highlighted in her primary campaign in a crowded field. That might play well in more conservative parts of the redrawn district that stretches from the Portland suburbs toward rural central Oregon.
“To me, it's a toss-up race going forward and candidate quality is going to matter,” Horvick said. “The opportunities for Oregon to be central in the national conversation is higher this cycle than any cycle I can think of in recent memory.”
