U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum appears to have comfortably won reelection in a race that was one of the nation’s most closely watched.
The Associated Press called the race for Bynum.
As of Wednesday morning, the Happy Valley Democrat had received 54% of the vote.
Bynum was well ahead of Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, who earned 44% in a midterm election that was predicted to bring headwinds for Republicans, the results showed.
In a press release Tuesday evening, Bynum declared victory.
“Oregonians made their voices heard and their message was clear: they want a fighter in Congress. And I am honored to again be chosen to be that fighter,” she said.
Bynum, a former state legislator and business owner, is poised for another term representing Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. The district, which stretches from Portland to Albany to Bend, was once considered one of the nation’s most politically competitive.
But Bynum’s bid was buoyed by a voter base disenchanted with the Republican-led Congress and the Trump administration. She campaigned on rooting out political corruption, curbing high health care costs and bolstering educational opportunities. She vastly outraised Adair in campaign contributions.
In a second term, Bynum says she plans to build new rules that address the proliferation of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, among other things.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.