National Democratic group MoveOn will back Oregon candidates Salinas, Bynum
A national group that plans to spend more than $32 million to elect Democrats to federal office is backing two Oregon congressional candidates.
MoveOn, one of the country’s largest progressive organizations, endorsed U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas and Democratic candidate Janelle Bynum on Tuesday. The endorsements, shared first with the Capital Chronicle, mean the two Oregon women will benefit from house parties, digital ads, phone banks and canvassing led by MoveOn.
It’s part of a $32 million plan laid out by the 25-year-old organization, which this year plans to target “surge voters” – the Democratic-leaning voters, especially young voters and people of color, who turned out in droves to repudiate then-President Donald Trump in the 2018 and 2020 elections but who haven’t become regular voters. The group estimates it can reach about 11 million of these voters.
Prior to President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race last week, a lack of enthusiasm, especially among young voters and voters of color, showed up consistently in polls that had Biden losing to Trump. Early polling and anecdotal reports suggest more enthusiasm with Vice President Kamala Harris securing enough delegates to take over the top of the ticket.
Low turnout in the Willamette Valley was one factor in Salinas’ narrow 2022 win over Republican Mike Erickson in the 6th Congressional District, which includes Polk and Yamhill counties and parts of Marion, Clackamas, and Washington counties. She’ll face Erickson, a businessman from Lake Oswego who self-funds his campaigns, again in the November general election.
In the neighboring 5th Congressional District, which runs from Portland to Bend, Bynum is challenging first-term Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans in both districts, and Biden won both in 2020.
The Oregon candidates are among 21 House candidates backed by MoveOn, which is also targeting key Senate races in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“Our members endorsed these candidates because they will prioritize a people-first agenda for Oregonians that will empower our communities while ensuring our rights and freedoms do not collapse at the hands of the MAGA-run Republican Party,” MoveOn Political Action spokesperson Britt Jacovich said. “MoveOn members know how critical it is to vote to keep control of the U.S. House away from MAGA extremists who intend to take our country backward through their Project 2025 agenda.”
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Julia Shumway is editor of Oregon Capital Chronicle and has reported on government and politics in Iowa and Nebraska, spent time at the Bend Bulletin and most recently was a legislative reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times in Phoenix. An award-winning journalist, Julia most recently reported on the tangled efforts to audit the presidential results in Arizona.
