politics @lemmy.world MicroWave @lemmy.world 6d ago

Janelle Bynum wins race for Congress, flipping U.S. House seat from GOP to Democratic control

www.oregonlive.com Janelle Bynum wins race for Congress, flipping U.S. House seat from GOP to Democratic control

Bynum, a lawmaker and small business owner, will be Oregon's first Black representative in Congress.

Summary

Oregon Democrat Janelle Bynum won a seat in the U.S. House, becoming the state’s first Black representative after defeating Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a closely watched race for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District.

Bynum led by a strong margin in key counties, ensuring a Democratic victory. Her campaign emphasized combatting extremism, reproductive rights, and economic growth, and she received significant support and funding from national Democrats.

While Republicans retain a narrow lead in the overall House, Bynum’s win represents a major gain for Oregon Democrats amid a competitive election cycle.

45 comments

That puts the house at 211 RNC and 201 DNC, then? Republicans need 7 more to claim majority.
- Right, but every seat Democrats manage to siphon away is one less vote in support of fascism. And House Republicans do a lot of internal fighting. I will laugh out loud if they can't pick a speaker again, and it somehow affects the timeline for counting the EC votes.
  
  The future will be miserable but I will at least be able to find joy in their failures. The backstabbing and incompetence in the Trump admin will be legendary.
  
  The dynamics of the game are way different with a Republican Senate and president. I bet they'll fall in line in a heartbeat if they keep the house.
  
  That would be intentional. They'd have to screw with the timeline for counting the EC votes if Trump kicks it between December 17th and January 6th. Otherwise, the House would be obligated to create a Harris/Vance administration.
  
  Exactly. People forget they not all the republicans are MAGAs. The GOP equivalent of Joe Manchin exists, and they’re going to have a lot of power with a slim majority.
  
  I don’t know the answer to this and am too drunk to research right now but. I really wonder how many of the people causing ire beforehand are still even left in congress now. I’m worried a lot of the loud voices were replaced with trumpie fucking losers. But again. Just assumption based on my end.
- Yep, control runs through California, which is taking its sweet time counting the votes. It will be days before we know who controls the house, although it’s going to be the republicans more likely than not
  
  This is also why people need to vote blue no matter how blue your state is.
  
  California's "sweet time" includes allowing votes postmarked on Election Day to arrive and be counted. You might not be happy waiting but I'm glad to live in a state that values every vote and makes voting as accessible as possible. I won't say "easy" because our ballot was 6 pages long, but it was easy to read and mark at home, and mail or put in a box or hand to a person.
  
  Irresponsible to say "taking it's sweet time..." these days without also mentioning explicitly that this is the specific effect of decades of a GOP cause to sabotage how votes are collected, processed, tallied and reported.
- AP still hasn’t called her. And they have 212 RNC and 200 DNC. So if it’s 201, then republican need 6 to claim majority now.
Finally some good fucking news.
Hey, that's my district. Nice to make the news!
- The Republicans were absolutely inundating the district with the most vile stuff, like how she "voted in favor of rapists." They dramatically outspent her campaign.
  
  I'm really happy she won.
- Woooo. Hope she represents you well friend.
  
  Thanks, me too! But it's been awhile since I've had a Representative in the House that I was happy with. House districts are too big for their stated purpose OR5 goes from Portland suburbs to Bend
- Mine too! Way to go
Countdown until Chavez-DeRemer sues saying the election was stolen or that redistricting was gerrymandering in 3, 2, 1...
- It's the most evenly divided district in Oregon in partisan terms and she ran on a "bipartisan" theme. She'd be pretty hard-pressed to make her case.
  
  She’d be pretty hard-pressed to make her case.
  
  Logic has never stopped any republican.
it's something.
- Yeah, I didn't have a lot of hope that the Dems would have enough neocons left in the House to lean on and stop the absolute worst but they might, might have enough to stop a complete fascist takeover.
My inner cynic is coming to the surface on this one. I would rather the GOP control all 3 branches so it doesn't give them an excuse that the "other side" is holding back progress or some other bullshit. Yes it would mean unchecked power, but it might be the only way to open people's eyes.....I can't even finish that because I doubt even that would happen.
- No matter what they can always just say dems did it and their base will say 'yes daddy'
- Oh, they still have all four branches. It’s just Oregon got a bit more Blue.
- Sadly it won’t work that way. I’ve seen republicans vote against legislation. Then go home and claim it with their populous cause dems forced it through. These people are fucking scum.
This is spectacular to hear. I have to wonder if the shift in control will exacerbate the issues that prevented the passing of a budget, however. I haven't thought it through fully yet, but whatever the make up of the senate and house are, passing a budget is priority #1, and how that shakes out is going to be one of, if not the most significant short term effect on the economic situation of regular people.

45 comments