Supplied images of Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is running for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District position in November, 2024.
Courtesy of the campaign
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in Portland Monday holding a fundraising event for Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s reelection campaign.
The nation’s top Republican congressman appeared with the freshman U.S. representative at a hotel in downtown Portland Monday morning.
Participants were asked to pay $500 per person for breakfast, and $2,000 per person for a private reception, photo opportunity and breakfast, according to an event flier provided to OPB.
The flier did not include the location of the event, saying it would be provided upon RSVP, but a participant told OPB it was at The Nines Hotel in Southwest Portland.
Johnson’s visit comes as Chavez-DeRemer faces a challenge for her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas. It’s another sign that Republicans on the highest level are taking an interest in the state’s most high-profile congressional race.
Bynum and Chavez-DeRemer are vying for control in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, a swing district that is considered a tossup by the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes American politics. The winner could decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
Chavez-DeRemer backed Johnson’s bid for House Speaker in October after Republicans ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy. Chavez-DeRemer opposed the ouster of McCarthy. She also endorsed former President Donald Trump in March.
Chavez-DeRemer’s spokesperson did not return three calls and two text messages seeking comment. Johnson’s spokesperson also did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s fundraising visit drew a response from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ national campaign arm.
“While Lori Chavez-DeRemer continues enabling MAGA Republicans and the most extreme fringes of her party at the expense of Oregon families, Janelle Bynum is ready to keep addressing Oregonians’ needs as she has in Salem, and get even more good done for her communities in Congress,” Dan Gottlieb, a committee spokesperson, said in a statement to OPB. “Chavez-DeRemer could learn a thing or two from Janelle’s example, and we’re confident that contrast will be clear this November.”
Chavez-DeRemer has raised $3.3 million in total contributions, compared to Bynum’s $2.4 million, according to federal filings as of the end of June.