Former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer has signed onto a new political action committee that will share funds with fellow Republican congressional candidate Alek Skarlatos.

Chavez-DeRemer is running in the 5th Congressional District, while Skarlatos, from Roseburg, is running in the 4th district.

The Federal Elections Commission reported the candidates had signed off on the creation of the Chavez-DeRemer Skarlatos Victory 2022.

It is one of several political action committee for GOP candidates across the country to share fundraising that have developed by the same Alexandria, VA campaign consulting firm.

It’s Skarlatos second joint political action committee filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

An FEC report in October listed the creation of “Stronger PNW PAC for Alek Skarlatos and Tiffany Smiley” that would split contributions between Skarlatos and Smiley, a Republican running for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA.

The Skarlatos-Smiley PAC listed the treasurer as Chris Marston, an Alexandria attorney specializing in election law.

Skarlatos initial report of the new PAC listed the treasurer as Lisa Lisker, a top GOP fundraiser based in Virginia who has created several PACs to aid candidates and already has ties to Smiley. Skarlatos later revised his filing to list Marston as the treasurer.

The committee is authorized as a secondary fundraising PAC to their separate campaign funds.

The PAC listing the Oregon GOP duo would split any money raised between Chavez-DeRemer and Skarlatos.

Chavez-DeRemer is running in the May 17 primary for the 5th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby. The district was redrawn by the Legislature last year so that less than half of Schrader’s current constituents remain within its borders.

The new alignment of the 5th district runs from southern Portland over the Cascades to Deschutes County. Schrader also faces a primary challenge from Terrebonne attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner.

Skarlatos is running for the 4th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield. DeFazio, the dean of the Oregon congressional delegation, announced late last year that he would retire. The decision came after redistricting strengthened the Democratic tilt, making it plausibly easier for a Democrat other than DeFazio to win.

DeFazio defeated Skarlatos in 2020 by 5% – the closest race in the Democrat’s 34-year congressional history. The two spent at least $8.3 million, making it Oregon’s most expensive congressional race.

Skarlatos will face a different Democrat in a district where slices of previous Republican-leaning areas in the 4th district have been moved into other neighboring districts.

Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle has received DeFazio’s endorsement in a crowded Democratic field for the 4th district, which includes Corvallis, Eugene and Roseburg.

Skarlatos received acclaim for being among a small group of men who stopped a 2015 attack by an Islamic State extremist aboard a Paris-bound train. He was a member of the Oregon National Guard at the time. Skarlatos played himself in the 2018 Clint Eastwood-directed theatrical film, “7:15 to Paris,” about the incident.