BEND – A contentious race for the 5th Congressional District heated up in a debate Monday evening over guns, party politics, and the environment. 

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Republican from Happy Valley, and Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the Democrat from Terrebonne, broached disagreements throughout the televised debate.

Accusations of lies and cheap politics were slung back and forth as Chavez-DeRemer and McLeod-Skinner answered rapid-fire questions on housing, law enforcement and inflation.

Claims of extremism

The debate nearly ended in a tense exchange before closing statements. McLeod-Skinner criticized Chavez-DeRemer’s social media activity, accusing the Clackamas County Republican of denying that President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and refusing to denounce QAnon, a discredited political movement derived from online conspiracy theories.

Chavez-DeRemer called the allegations nonsense. Any claim that she was supportive of the violent mob of supporters of defeated President Donald Trump who stormed that U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was  “ridiculous.”

“We know that President Biden is the President of these United States –  I know that, my opponent knows that,” Chavez-DeRemer said. 

Chavez-DeRemer did not comment on QAnon during the debate. 

Hitting back at McLeod-Skinner, Chavez-DeRemer said the Democrat resides on the “extremist fringe.”

“Are you a progressive in your politics?” Chavez-DeRemer asked.

McLeod-Skinner said she was proud to have supporters of all types. 

Guns and law enforcement

The two candidates rehashed their stances on gun control policies and law enforcement — sometimes using the same exact words as they did in their previous televised debate on Sept. 27.

McLeod-Skinner repeatedly pressed Chavez-DeRemer on her stance on guns and gun control.

“Can you name a single gun safety measure that you support?” McLeod-Skinner asked.

A fully funded police force and mental health support are essential to combatting gun violence, Chavez-DeRemer responded.

McLeod Skinner said she is in favor of “responsible gun ownership.” 

Chavez-DeRemer touted her accomplishments as a city council member and as mayor of Happy Valley in achieving 24/7 police coverage for the city.

Accountability, police training, and officer wellness were McLeod-Skinner’s priorities for law enforcement.

Chavez-DeRemer claimed McLeod-Skinner was fired in 2017 from her job as city manager of Phoenix in Jackson County for her inability to work with law enforcement. The Medford Mail-Tribune newspaper reported at the time that McLeod-Skinner said she was terminated after seeking to improve financial accountability by city departments.  Chavez-DeRemer said McLeod-Skinner participated in “defund the police marches,” which McLeod-Skinner denied.

After the debate, McLeod-Skinner supporters on Twitter said photos that Chavez-DeRemer’s campaign circulated were of peaceful “Black Lives Matter” events after the 2020 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. 

The Economy and Inflation

McLeod-Skinner took strong stances on lowering all prescription drug prices —not just insulin — and she said she opposes members of Congress trading stocks.

“We also need to lower the cost of everyday life by providing more affordable housing, making sure people have access to childcare so they can get back to work,” McLeod-Skinner said. 

Neither candidate said they supported blanket student loan forgiveness.

 McLeod-Skinner said economic development and investments in early education and apprenticeship programs are necessary for the future of education in Oregon.

Chavez-DeRemer called student loan forgiveness “reckless spending,” and she echoed GOP candidate Christine Drazan’s comments from the Sept. 27 governor’s debate in Bend that loan forgiveness was like “picking winners and losers.”

Chavez-DeRemer said it is unreasonable to ask people to pay for other people’s education in a time when gas prices and inflation are at a high.

McLeod-Skinner called Chavez-DeRemer “an out-of-touch millionaire who has multiple homes, multi-million dollar homes, including in Arizona.”

Housing and homelessness

Healthcare, housing supply and affordable housing all came up when candidates were asked about homelessness.

McLeod-Skinner blames a lack of housing availability and inadequate healthcare as the root of homelessness.

Chavez-DeRemer attributes homelessness to mental health crisis and addiction. 

“We have a criminal problem. We have a mental health problem. We have an addiction problem. And the leadership in this state has gone by the wayside,” Chavez-DeRemer said. 

More regulation on building would be a mistake in solving the housing affordability crisis in Oregon, Chavez-DeRemer said. She advocated for bringing more land into cities’ urban growth boundaries specifically to build middle and workforce housing.

McLeod-Skinner said public-private partnerships are key to solving the housing crisis. She said her experience as a city planner and a city manager have equipped her to tackle housing solutions. 

“It’s not rocket science – it’s just about good policy,” McLeod-Skinner said. 

Both candidates mentioned veterans, in particular, who each said make up a disproportionate number of homeless in Oregon. Both said maintaining Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ healthcare benefits would be federal spending priorities. McLeod-Skinner said Chavez-DeRemer wouldn’t follow through.

Environment: Water, wildfire and energy

McLeod-Skinner called for state and tribal partnerships and water conservation efforts on a federal level. She said her opponent was attempting to use water scarcity as a tactic for political division.

“This is not a political issue,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

She said she’d make it a priority to listen to people like Rep. Cliff Bentz, area farmers and ranchers and developers to tackle water issues and protect watersheds. 

In addressing wildfire and natural disaster preparedness, Chavez-DeRemer advocated for an on-the-ground approach.

“I think the best thing we can do is get out of the courtroom and back into our forests,” she said.

Looking through the lens of “extreme environmentalists” is not the answer to tackling wildfires, Chavez-DeRemer said. She said thinning the forests and harvesting timber can help reduce fuel load.

Again, McLeod-Skinner advocated for state-federal partnerships in emergency preparedness. She envisions a 21st-century renewable energy grid that is created with unionized workers and their families at the forefront.

“The climate crisis presents a real present danger. This is no longer time for discussion whether or not its real. Our homes are literally burning down. Our family farms are going under. We must take action,” McLeod-Skinner said. 

Regulations and licensing for drilling for fuels have become much too onerous for American families, which has negatively impacted the economy, Chavez-DeRemer said. Without support for natural gas, people may not be able to heat their homes in the wintertime, she said.

“We need to make sure that we’re energy independent here in America,” Chavez-DeRemer said. 

Regardless of who wins the seat, the 5th Congressional District will be more diverse than it was before. McLeod-Skinner would be the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Oregon. Chavez-DeRemer, a Hispanic woman, said she wants more women, especially women of color, in the Republican party.

“I am the new face of the Republican Party,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Oregon’s 5th Congressional District – Background

The 5th Congressional District is considered the most competitive of the six U.S. House in seats in Oregon up for grabs in 2022.

It’s one of the key races for control of the chamber, where Democrats hold a 221-212 majority with two vacancies. If the GOP can flip just six seats, they’ll take back control they lost in 2018.

The major party nominees are two women from opposite ends of the district.

Chavez-DeRemer, 53, lives in Happy Valley, just outside Portland. She is the marketing director for Evolve Health, a group of mental health clinics in Portland, Bend, and Las Vegas.

McLeod-Skinner, 55, is a Terrebonne attorney. She’s a former city council member in Santa Clara, California, and was city administrator of the Oregon cities of Phoenix and Talent.

Dave’s Redistricting, a popular website that does deep statistical analyses of the new congressional districts for 2022, gives Oregon’s 5th district a 6% tilt in favor of Democrats.

But because of some election-year upsets, the way Oregon chooses its candidates, and other oddities, the race has been rated as a “toss-up” by FiveThirtyEight.com and the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, two of three major political forecasting centers in the nation.

First, redistricting for the 2022 election moved the boundaries of the districts significantly to the east.

U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, is officially the incumbent. But the newly drawn district of 706,209 residents contained less than half of its constituents in the old district.

Oregon has closed primaries, meaning only party members were allowed to vote for their party’s nominee on May 17. 

Schrader cast himself as a centrist battling increasingly “socialist” Democrats on one side and hard-right Republican followers of former President Donald Trump on the other.

The strategy failed in the new district.

McLeod-Skinner, 56, ran as a progressive Democrat and spent just under $900,000 in the primary, about one-fifth of Schrader’s expenditures. But she won a comfortable victory as the more activist-oriented primary electorate judged Schrader as too conservative for Oregon Democrats.

National conservative Republican leaders rallied around Chavez-DeRemer, the former mayor of Happy Valley in Clackamas County.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, the third-ranking member of GOP House leadership tapped her for early funding and organizational resources from Elevate PAC. She defeated Bend entrepreneur Jimmy Crumpacker, who was making his second bid for Congress in two years.

An oddity, though not illegal: Neither McLeod-Skinner or Chavez-DeRemer live in the district. They can’t even vote for themselves. Under the U.S. Constitution, candidates for the U.S. House only have to live in the state where they are running, not the actual district.

Ironically, each lives in a stronghold of their opponent’s party. 

McLeod-Skinner’s home is just outside the 5th district’s southeastern border, in the Jefferson County portion of Crooked River Ranch. She lives in the 2nd district of U.S. Rep Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, the lone Republican in Oregon’s delegation to Capitol Hill.

Chavez-DeRemer lives just beyond the far northern end of the 5th district, in a swath represented U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, a longtime liberal representing the safest Democratic district in the state. 

Campaign finance reporting for congressional races is determined by the Federal Elections Commission. Candidates currently have to file reports every three months. The most recent report includes fundraising and spending through June 30, McLeod-Skinner maintained over a $100,000 edge in total campaign receipts over Chavez-DeRemer’s $1,123,451. The latest financial quarter ended September 30 and candidates must file reports this month.

Monday’s debate was held at the KTVZ studio in Bend and moderated by KTVZ anchor Lee Anderson. The station said a replay will be available at KTVZ.com 

Anna Kaminski is a reporter with The Bend Bulletin, covering area government and politics.

Oregon Capital Bureau politics reporter Gary Warner contributed the background on the 5th Congressional District.