Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum, left, is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Oregon's 5th Congressional District. (Campaign photos)
Oregon’s largest private sector union won’t take sides in the state’s most competitive congressional race, saying both Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Democratic challenger Janelle Bynum are “friends of labor.”
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, which represents more than 30,000 members across Oregon, Idaho, southwestern Washington and Wyoming, gave both Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum its “greenlight” stamp, indicating that their values align with the union’s. Union lobbyist Mike Selvaggio confirmed the decision Thursday.
“They’re both friends of labor, and they both raised to that level of acceptability for us,” Selvaggio said.
The double endorsement comes as Bynum and Chavez-DeRemer have battled for support from labor in the close 5th Congressional District, which includes Linn County, most of Clackamas and Deschutes counties and parts of Multnomah and Marion counties. It’s one of a handful of races across the country that could decide the balance of the U.S. House. Chavez-DeRemer narrowly won the district in 2022.
Unusually for Republicans, she has sought support from unions and highlighted some of their concerns in Congress. She now has endorsements from more than a dozen unions, including Oregon’s Teamsters union and unions representing ironworkers, carpenters and firefighters.
“I’m honored to receive the green light from our state’s largest private-sector union, reflecting my continued commitment to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for working families,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle.
Selvaggio said UFCW was impressed by Chavez-DeRemer cosponsoring the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, sweeping pro-union bill commonly called the PRO Act that would weaken state “right-to-work” laws to allow unions to collect dues from all employees, increase penalties for employers who violate labor law and strengthen employees’ legal rights to join a union. She also regularly reaches out to UFCW for feedback, he said.
“When she speaks up and puts on record that UFCW 555, is doing a great job for its membership and that’s why she’s opposing a certain bill, that makes a lot of difference for us,” he said. “We’re not used to that level of attention.”
Labor unions are a powerful force in state politics, spending millions of dollars and thousands of hours each election cycle to help elect their allies – mainly Democratic candidates. Bynum is backed by several of the state’s most influential unions, including Service Employees International Union Oregon, and on Wednesday announced endorsements from unions representing about 59,000 education and health care workers. Her campaign declined to comment on UFCW’s decision.
The district has more registered Democrats than Republicans but has a history of voting for moderates. Before Chavez-DeRemer, a moderate Democrat, Kurt Schrader, held the seat for 14 years but was ousted in the 2022 primary by a progressive, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who lost to Bynum this year.
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