House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, revs up a crowd of about 150 Republicans at a rally for U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, right. U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, looks on. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
OREGON CITY — House Speaker Mike Johnson cast the 2024 election as a battle between good and evil in a speech urging about 150 enthusiastic Republicans to vote for vulnerable U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, said he saved his rally in Oregon City with Chavez-DeRemer for the end of the election cycle because of how important it is. Oregon’s 5th District, which stretches from Portland to Bend, is the most competitive in Oregon and one of a handful of races across the country that could decide which party controls the House.
He praised Chavez-DeRemer for her bipartisan record — she frequently touts a report that showed her as the second-most bipartisan member of Congress — before quickly pivoting to bashing Democrats.
“They don’t believe in the founding principles of America,” he said. “They have disdain for our foundations. They want us to be something else. They want us to be some sort of European-style Marxist utopia, and everybody in this room today knows that that is dangerous, and so we’re in a battle right now to preserve the greatest nation. This is not like any election we’ve ever had before.”
Johnson said Republicans have drawn up a playbook for their first 100 days if they win the House, Senate and presidency, starting with securing the U.S. border and extending 2017 tax cuts. And Chavez-DeRemer will be a key player in that agenda, he said.
“I just want you to know the poster girl for effectiveness and hard work and executing plays with precision is Lori Chavez-DeRemer,” he said.
Johnson also held a fundraiser and campaign rally for Republican challenger Joe Kent in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, represented by Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez. And House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, also hosted a fundraiser for Chavez-DeRemer Wednesday night and a breakfast fundraiser for Kent on Thursday.
Earlier in October, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York visited Clackamas to campaign for Bynum, who he called “the quintessential example of what a member of the House of Representatives and a public servant should be.” Unlike Jeffries and Bynum, Johnson and Chavez-DeRemer declined to answer questions from reporters at their event.
Bynum said in a statement that Chavez-DeRemer campaigning with Johnson confirms that the incumbent Republican is a threat to abortion rights.
“Lori Chavez-DeRemer has tried to mislead voters on her abortion record but standing by one of the most extreme anti-abortion legislators, Mike Johnson, further confirms she is a direct threat to reproductive rights in Congress,” Bynum said. “She has been given every opportunity to represent and deliver for Oregon, but has chosen to side with MAGA extremists time and time again. Oregon’s 5th District deserves better, and I will go to Congress to protect abortion rights and stand up for all Oregonians.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also blasted Chavez-DeRemer for campaigning with Johnson in a statement, saying voters will hold her accountable in 11 days.
“After spending her entire campaign failing to cover up her attacks on women’s reproductive freedoms, Lori Chavez-DeRemer has officially abandoned the moderate persona,” DCCC spokesman Dan Gottlieb said. “By campaigning with Mike Johnson — who has led the charge against women’s reproductive rights and Social Security and Medicare — Chavez-DeRemer is once again putting her loyalty to MAGA extremists above Oregonians. In 11 days, voters will hold Chavez-DeRemer accountable for her far-right agenda.”
U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, speaks at a rally on Oct. 24 in Oregon City. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Democrats have long attacked Chavez-DeRemer for supporting Johnson, who they call “MAGA Mike.” Johnson, a fierce opponent of abortion rights, called in 2022 for punishing doctors who perform abortions with “hard labor” in prison and sponsored or cosponsored bills to ban abortions nationwide at six weeks or 15 weeks, prohibit federal funding for any clinics that perform abortions and declare that life begins at fertilization.
Chavez-DeRemer voted for one bill he cosponsored that would require health care practitioners to immediately admit to a hospital any fetus that survives an abortion. Medical professionals condemned that measure, which they said would block doctors from providing compassionate, evidence-based care.
Johnson also voted against a 2022 law to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages and against legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. A constitutional lawyer, he signed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case seeking to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election and voted against certifying 2020 election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania, two states won by Joe Biden.
Chavez-DeRemer confirmed when asked in debates this month that she believed Biden won in 2020. She has flip-flopped on her stance on abortion rights throughout her political career, but since her 2022 election she has said she’ll oppose any legislation to “fundamentally change” abortion access.
On Thursday, Chavez-DeRemer said Democrats were trying to “nationalize” the race, but she considers it a local race focused on local issues.
“I call myself the mayor of the 5th District for a reason, and that’s because that’s what matters,” she said. “Every single day, we represent everybody. Nobody ever knew what my party was when I was mayor, and I didn’t ask what their party was when they needed me on the streets of Happy Valley. And I treat it the same way in Washington, D.C.”
She told her supporters that they would hear lies about her during the next 10 days, and that they shouldn’t listen to the messages they hear. But they also shouldn’t forget Bynum, she said.
“I want you guys to not forget her,” she said. “I want you to regret her. I want you to regret the policies that she’s made, not forget what she’s done, because it has long, lasting effects on the streets of Oregon.”
Marilyn Cheney Thomas smiles with a Trump hat at a rally for U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, in Oregon City. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Chavez-DeRemer refers frequently to her support from unions, 20 of which have endorsed her campaign. Oregon’s largest and most politically powerful unions, including the Service Employees International Union Local 503, the Oregon Education Association and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, are backing Bynum, while the state’s largest private-sector union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, supports both candidates.
Jimbo Anderson, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 701, introduced Chavez-DeRemer on Thursday. He said she met his criteria, including opposing right-to-work laws, supporting prevailing wage contracts and supporting apprenticeships.
“We’re for Lori because she’s for labor,” he said.
Other Chavez-DeRemer supporters traveled Thursday to cheer her on and see Johnson. Jeanie Wenning, decorated with Trump pins, drove from Lebanon to attend the event with her friend Ginger Larcom from Corvallis. She said she used to assume that Christians like herself shouldn’t get involved in politics.
“Up until 2020, I just voted and my husband and I watched Fox News,” she said. “2020 changed things.”
The COVID pandemic, associated shutdowns of schools and businesses, riots and the 2020 election convinced Wenning to get more involved. She said she’s been amazed by how quickly she made good friends with other people who shared her political beliefs, because they skipped right past small talk to discuss big issues like faith and the country.
But Marilyn Cheney Thomas, who stood in front with a bedazzled Trump hat, lost relationships because of her political beliefs. Thomas — who wants to be clear that she’s no relation to former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney or her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris — is estranged from her son, who she calls a “demon rat” because of his Democratic registration.
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