The local Democrats appear to be in a disagreement with the national party over who to support in the primary election for Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District, according to NBC News.
The national party, including President Joe Biden, and the House Democrat campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), are supporting the incumbent running for his eighth term, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR).
However, in a very unusual step, the local Democrat County chapters in Oregon’s recently redistricted Fifth Congressional District are looking to back the far-left primary challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner. And are demanding the national party keep out of it.
The local Democrat chapters representing roughly 90 percent of the voters, voted last month by large margins to endorse the far-left challenger.
In a letter to the DCCC, obtained by NBC News, the local Democrat chapters insisted that the national party stays out of the district to allow them to choose who they want while also arguing that Schrader should not qualify to represent the district after the redistricting.
“We are dismayed that the DCCC refuses to let Oregon Democrats decide who we want to represent us,” the local party chairs wrote. “We formally request that you immediately stop campaigning for Schrader in the primary election. Allow Oregon Democrats to choose who represents us in Congress.”
They argued that more than half of the voters are new to the district after redistricting.
“Kurt Schrader may be a dues-paying DCCC member, but he is not a true incumbent in the newly drawn OR-5,” the local chairs wrote while acknowledging that Schrader lost contact with the district he represents and should therefore be replaced by a “solid Democrat.”
Allies of Schrader attempted to minimize the infighting claiming that the far-left activists causing a problem are not the rank-and-file Democrat voters usually behind the congressman.
“The reason why he has won this competitive district time and time again is because he can bring everyone together — rural, urban and suburban — to find common ground and deliver wins that make a real difference in the lives of all Oregonians,” said Schrader spokesperson Deb Barnes to NBC News.
Eileen Kiely, the vice-chair of Deschutes County Democrats, one of the groups that overwhelmingly voted to back the challenger, said, “The president said that Schrader agreed with him 96 percent of the time, but that 4 percent are issues that really matter in rural Oregon.”
She also added that “Jamie is not a Bronx Democrat. She is a rural progressive… The only reason that she is to the left of Schrader is because she’s a real Democrat.”
Contracting Kiely’s comments, Biden said in his endorsement that the congressman and himself “don’t always agree,” but “When it has mattered most, Kurt has been there for me.” McLeod-Skinner called Biden’s endorsement a “political favors from national Democrats.”
But, despite the demands from the local Democrat groups, the DCCC does not appear to be backing out of the primary, which is only weeks away on May 17.
“Congressman Schrader has been critical in advancing President Biden’s agenda,” said a spokesperson for the DCCC, Johanna Warshaw. “We need a candidate who can win in November and keep delivering on these critical issues, and Congressman Schrader is the person for the job.”
While Schrader is worried about his primary, the congressman has also received multiple ethics complaints filed over the recent months.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a non-partisan ethics watchdog organization, filed two complaints against the congressman with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).
One of the complaints requested an investigation into Schrader for allegedly violating House Ethics rules that prohibit members from using official taxpayer-funded resources for political purposes.
The second complaint demanded an investigation into the congressman’s stock transactions, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, for allegedly failing to adequately disclose up to tens of thousands of dollars in stocks, violating federal law.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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