WASHINGTON (AP) — A fresh political action committee has started pouring money into a key swing district in Oregon just days before the Democratic primary there, raising questions about whether Republicans are trying to swing the needle in the contest .
The primary with Janelle Bynum and Jamie McLeod-Skinner will take place on Tuesday. Democrats are competing for Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Republican who narrowly won the 2022 election by about 7,300 votes, just 2 percentage points ahead of McLeod-Skinner.
The contest is considered one of the most competitive in the country and will take up a lot of resources this fall as the two major political parties vie for control of the House of Representatives. The district is one of 16 that President Joe Biden won and is now represented by a Republican in the House of Representatives.
The fresh super PAC, called Health Equity Now, has set aside about $352,000 for advertising with spots supporting McLeod-Skinner, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. The ads debuted in the Portland market on Wednesday and say McLeod-Skinner is “putting progressive values into action” by supporting Medicare for all and taking the fight to insurance companies.
The group behind the ads registered with the Federal Election Commission on May 3rd. It doesn’t have to report its donors until after the election and avoids giving voters information about who – or what interest group – is behind the current wave of cash-flow. But what raises questions among Democrats is the fact that the advertising agency Fidi Media, LLC, which placed the buys, is traditionally employed by Republican candidates, FEC records show.
Trevor Kowalski is listed as Treasurer of Health Equity Now. A person named Trevor Kowalski was an official on a political committee that raised money for former football player Herschel Walker when he ran for U.S. Senate in Georgia as a Republican in 2022.
Those clues doom the campaign for Bynum, and a spokesman said the ad buys “definitely look like there are ties to the Republicans.”
“Let’s be clear: Jamie McLeod-Skinner is the House Republicans’ dream opponent because she knows she can beat her — which makes this shady GOP election interference in a Democratic primary all the more alarming,” Blakely said Wall, a spokesman for the Bynum campaign.
McLeod-Skinner said she knew nothing about the group, but the content of their message in the ads was exact.
“While I have never heard of this group and do not support secret money for our elections, it is absolutely true that I believe everyone should have quality, affordable physical and mental health care,” McLeod-Skinner said in a statement Statement sent by email.
Congressional Democrats’ campaign arm has not formally endorsed the race, but has placed Bynum on its “red-to-blue” list, which provides organizational and financial support to leading candidates. Bynum has beaten Republican incumbent Chavez-DeRemer twice in previous races for the Oregon State House.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did not place McLeod-Skinner on that list. McLeod-Skinner, an unquestioned progressive, defeated a longtime moderate Democrat, former Rep. Kurt Schrader, in 2022, only to narrowly lose to Chavez-DeRemer in the general election.
Outside spending in the Democratic primary has favored Bynum so far, with more than $1.2 million flowing through independent spending to boost Bynum or combat McLeod-Skinner.
Whoever emerges from the primary will face a well-financed Republican incumbent in Chavez-DeRemer. It had nearly $1.9 million in cash on hand as of May 1, according to FEC records.
Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the House Republican campaign arm, said he was unaware of Republican involvement in the Democratic primary and said he had never heard of the group Health Equity Now or that they had run any ads.
“I don’t participate in primaries, especially the Democratic primary,” Hudson said.
