U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum says she has always been intrigued by those who have access to power. In her first term, the Happy Valley Democrat has found herself with easier access than most.

Once, after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, she said she approached Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and urged him to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Another time, outside an elevator, she said she told House Speaker Mike Johnson that she was praying for him.

Bynum, 51, wants to remain this close to power. Elected in 2024, she became Oregon’s first Black member of Congress, joining a politically dysfunctional chamber and a party struggling to find its footing in the president’s second term.

If she’s re-elected, she would be poised to rise in the ranks from her position as a freshman in the minority party.

“I am fighting to turn the system on its head,” Bynum said in an interview with OPB. “Going to D.C. every week, you can tell, you can feel it in your bones that it’s not working. And Oregonians know it.”

Midterm elections typically come with political headwinds for the party that controls the White House. President Trump’s dismal popularity has some Democrats and pollsters expecting a blue wave that could flip seats or maybe even control of both chambers of Congress.

Now Bynum’s seeking another term representing what was once one of the nation’s most competitive swing districts, but has received little publicity compared to the 2024 election. So far, Bynum, a former state legislator and business owner, has outraised her opponent, Patti Adair, a Deschutes County commissioner. She has raised more than $3.7 million dollars compared to Adair’s more than $420,000.

Adair’s running because Congress is “a mess,” she said. She believes that Oregon’s many longstanding problems — its poor education rankings, its ongoing addiction problems and its high taxes — will spur support from voters disenchanted by the state’s Democratic majority.

“We have an opportunity to elect some different people this time,” Adair said. “And we desperately need to.”

Unlike the last election, a high-profile matchup in which Bynum unseated Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, national political groups have not waded into the race. Some polls, including the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections forecaster, label the district as solidly Democratic.

Of the district’s 548,852 registered voters, 30% are Democrats; 27% are Republicans; and 35% are not affiliated with either party. The district spans from the Portland suburbs through the Willamette Valley and over the Cascade Mountains.

It also includes the city of Bend, where three children and a teacher were killed last week in an elementary school shooting. The gunman was killed by a bystander, police say. The devastating event came one day after the candidates faced off in a televised debate. Adair and Bynum each halted their campaign to be with the community.

“I am praying for everyone impacted,” Adair said in a statement. “No words can fully express the pain and heartbreak our community is feeling right now.”

“This is every parent’s worst fear,” Bynum said in a statement. “My heart and my prayers and everything else I got is with the families at Silver Rail Elementary. When will it end?”

Bynum is honing her message on many of the Democrats’ biggest issues: rooting out political corruption, curbing high health care costs and bolstering educational opportunities.

But if she’s re-elected, she also wants to deliver concrete accomplishments for her district, such as helping fund a new city hall in the rural Linn County community of Scio, which she described as “probably the best day that I’ve had in this job.”

Bynum faced criticism from fellow Democrats earlier this year for being the only member of Oregon’s Democratic congressional delegation to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act, which expands federal agents’ authority to detain and deport undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes.

In a statement following her vote, she said: “I know the majority of immigrants who are here illegally contribute to our country and make it a better place to live. But we have to hold those who break the law accountable. When it comes to harming our kids, I’ll fight you tooth and nail.”

If she’s re-elected, Bynum says she would use her relationships and better understanding of the federal government to build new rules that address the proliferation of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.

Polls show Democrats could flip the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Asked if she would support Democrats using that power to impeach President Trump, Bynum said: “He certainly earned it.”

“There are people who are smarter than me who can manage that impeachment process, and I hope they bring a very good case,” Bynum said.

For her part, Adair criticized her opponent for voting against the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which slashed safety net programs to pay for tax breaks that Adair wants to make permanent. In an interview with OPB earlier this month, she touted her efforts with the county, claiming credit for helping Deschutes County tackle homelessness and leaving it in strong fiscal shape.

A handful of Republicans in Congress have increasingly voiced frustration at decisions by the Trump administration that run counter to their district. Pressed on whether she would push back against the president’s decisions, she pointed to the war in Iran, a political liability for Republicans as gas prices have soared.

“If I get in Congress and the war hasn’t stopped by January, yes, I would definitely vote to stop the funding,” Adair said. But, she added: “Honestly, the net results, I do believe it has done more good than harm.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/20/oregon-politics-deschutes-county-janelle-bynum-patti-adair/