Oregon's Fourth District includes the college towns of Eugene and Corvallis and a vast rural swath of the southwest corner of the state.
Open seats are rare in this part of the state. In fact, there’s no incumbent on the ballot this year for just the fourth time since the district was created in the 1940’s. But with Springfield Democrat Peter DeFazio calling it quits after 36 years, the Fourth District is very much in play this time around.
Or is it?
While the boundary changes that took effect with this year’s redistricting weren’t that dramatic, geographically-speaking, it was enough to make things far more comfortable for the Democrats, politically-speaking.
"It went from being a swing district, and at a point, a district that slightly favored Republicans, to one that more heavily favors Democrats,” said Chris Stout, an associate professor of political science at Oregon State University. "It’s a district that Biden did much better in. So that changed the dynamic of the race.”
There are 41,000 more Democrats than Republicans in the district, which means Republican nominee Alek Skarlatos has his work cut out for him. Still, he’s hoping to catch a possible Republican wave and defeat Democratic nominee Val Hoyle, a former state lawmaker who was elected in 2018 as Oregon Labor Commissioner.
Skarlatos insists the partisan makeup of the district could actually work to his advantage, forcing him to appeal more broadly to the electorate.
“I can represent this district best because I am the only one incentivized to work with both parties," he said. "I cannot win this seat without winning the unaffiliated and some Democrats as well. I cannot stay elected unless I appeal to that same group as well.”
To bolster his cross-aisle appeal, Skarlatos has even been running ads featuring a video that shows him standing alongside then-President Barack Obama.
The clip was from the time Obama honored Skarlatos for his role in stopping an attack on a European train in August, 2015, when he was in the Army National Guard. The incident brought national acclaim to Skarlatos and his companions who helped disarm the would-be terrorist. The fame led to a Clint Eastwood-produced movie in which Skarlatos played himself, as well as an appearance on the television show "Dancing With the Stars."
Skarlatos continues to mention his role in stopping the attack in fundraising emails. "I am (asking) you to donate $3 to my campaign for Congress, in honor of the seventh anniversary of the Thalys train attack," read an Oct. 11 email appeal.
But Democrats, including Hoyle, accuse Skarlatos of trying to mislead voters by glossing over his conservative political positions.
“Four years ago, when he ran for county commission in Douglas County, he ran as an ultra-conservative," said Hoyle, during an Oct. 6 forum sponsored by the City Clubs of Eugene and Springfield. "Two years ago, when he ran against Peter DeFazio, he ran as a MAGA candidate. And now he’s running as a moderate candidate because he knows that his extreme positions will not get him elected.”
In particular, Hoyle said Skarlatos is hiding from comments he’s made previously on abortion rights, climate change and the minimum wage.
Here’s an example: At that same forum, Skarlatos was asked if would support a bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, which would ban most abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“No, I would not vote for Lindsey Graham’s bill, and I would not vote for any bill that bans abortion in the United States," said Skarlatos. "I mean, the Supreme Court literally just ruled that it’s a state issue. Republicans can’t have it both ways. It’s either a state issue or it’s not. I’m a states-rights advocate myself, and I will not vote for any new abortion bans or anything along those lines one way or the other, because it’s a state issue.”
Democrats say that while Skarlatos insists he won’t vote to further curtail abortion rights, he’s spoken in the past about his desire for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe V. Wade. They point to spending on his behalf by the National Right to Life Committee, which adamantly opposes abortion rights.
OSU’s Chris Stout said this type of pushback from Democrats is not surprising, especially considering the political makeup of the district.
“Skarlatos making these statements alone saying that he can work with Democrats, unchallenged, might lead some voters to think 'yeah, that’s a different candidate, this seems like an independent-minded thinker,'" said Stout. "But then you have opponents saying, ‘look he’s not different from what he was before. He’s too extreme,’ which is the common attack labeled on him, (and that) may lead many other voters to think ‘Ah, he’s probably not who he says he is.’”
If Skarlatos wins, he’d be the first Republican to represent the Eugene-area in the US House since John Dellenback in the early 1970’s.
For his part, DeFazio—who endorsed Hoyle during the eight-way Democratic primary in the spring—is trying his best to ensure the half-century long uninterrupted streak of Democrats holding the seat continues. DeFazio thinks Skarlatos is trying to play the "moderate" card, and the peppery, soon-to-be-retired septuagenarian lawmaker just isn't buying it.
“Alek Skarlatos is trying to pass himself off as a moderate by saying things that he doesn’t believe in,” he said.
The use of a former Democratic president in his campaign ads did not go unnoticed by that president, who—through an advisor—called the ad "purposely misleading," according to a statement distributed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Skarlatos "is deeply out of step with Obama's vision," the statement concluded.
In addition to Hoyle and Skarlatos, voters in the Fourth District will also see Levi Leatherberry of the Independent Party, Mike Beilstein of the Pacific Green Party and Jim Howard of the Constitution Party on their ballot.
Leatherberry, a Eugene area farmer, is making his first run for public office.
Beilstein, a retired chemist from Corvallis, is making his sixth attempt at winning the Fourth District seat.
Howard announced in late summer that he was no longer actively seeking the seat, but he did not file paperwork to officially withdraw from the race, so his name will still appear on the ballot.
The deadline to vote in the 2022 general election is 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
