Blue Dog conservative Democrat Rep. Kurt Schrader appears to be on the verge of losing his primary in Oregon to progressive challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner after spending much of the last year voting to block much of his party’s agenda.
With approximately 77 percent of votes counted in Oregon’s fifth district, McLeod-Skinner has 59.3 percent of the votes, according to tallies available at the time of this reporting. Schrader is close behind at 40.7 percent, trailing by almost 19 points. The race is on was calledMcLeod Skinner Cook Political’s House editor Dave Wasserman on Twitter on Tuesday morning, but has yet to be called by other sources.
The district, which encompassesThe suburbs to the south of Portland and Salem, in the northwest region. typically leans blue. Since 2009, Schrader has been in the seat. Although the primary election was held May 17, the results have not been announced. been delayedDue to an issue with the barcodes on the ballots it led to a longer process for counting.
McLeod Skinner rancherJefferson County education board member ranA progressive platform supporting policies likeMedicare for All, a Green New Deal, and raising federal minimum wage. During the campaign, she continually highlighted key differences between her and Schrader, such as McLeod-Skinner’s support ofShe is refusing to accept corporate PAC donations, and she has imposed stronger regulations on the industry.
Indeed, if McLeod-Skinner’s win over Schrader is certified, it will be seen as a rebuke of the conservative politics that Schrader embodied during his time in office. His cozy relationship with Big Pharma’s highly funded lobbying efforts likely played a major role in his opposition to the Democrats’ plan to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
In September, Schrader is one of three Democrats who JoinedThe House Energy and Commerce Committee is dominated by Republicans, effectively killing the proposal. Schrader is worth $8 million. the son ofA pharmaceutical industry executive and his top donorsThe pharmaceutical and health industries benefited from his seven-year tenure, according to OpenSecrets.
Schrader also played a major role in obstructing Democrats’ agenda over the past year. During last year’s debacle over the Build Back Better Act, which contained Important Provisions to addressSchrader addresses social inequities and the climate crisis. WithA group of conservative Democratic House Members in opposition to the bill.
Deemed as the “Unbreakable Nine” by dark money organization No Labels, the nine Democrats It is strongly recommendedLet’s not forget the final It worked!Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic House Speaker from California, was instrumental in separating the Build Back Better bill and the supposedly bipartisan legislation. Infrastructure bill. The separation allowed Senators Kyrsten Silena (D. Arizona) and Joe Manchin, (D. West Virginia) to repeal the Build Back Better Act completely. The death of the bill was a major blow to Democrats, who have passed very few major bills in their time controlling Congress and the White House due in part to conservative Democrats’ obstruction.
Schrader had to apologize in January of last year after he compared Donald Trump’s second impeachment hearing to a “lynching” — a strange and racist remark which caused his spokesperson to resign.
McLeod-Skinner has dubbed Schrader the “Joe Manchin of the House,” and he has earned so much ire of his fellow party members that local DemocratsMcLeod Skinner was backed instead of the incumbent candidate, which is a tradition. The challenger also gathered endorsements fromProgressive organizations like the Working Families Party or local Sunrise Movement chapters can be found in many major labor unions.
