President Biden Endorses Rep. Kurt Schrader For Reelection

OREGON CITY, OR — The reelection campaign of Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon City) got welcome news over the weekend when President Joseph Biden endorsed him for an eighth term.

"We don't always agree, but when it has mattered most, Kurt has been there for me," President Biden said in a statement. "And in doing so, he has helped to pass much of my agenda into law — making a huge difference in the lives of the Oregonians he represents and all of America."

The endorsement came at a crucial moment for Schrader, whose district is centered in Clackamas county but also covers parts of Deschutes, Linn and Marion Counties. He faces a tough primary challenge in May in Oregon's newly created 6th Congressional District.

Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who lives in Terrebonne with her wife, has run unsuccessfully for several offices in the past including mounting a challenge to then-Rep. Greg Walden, for years, the only Republican in Oregon's congressional delegation.

She garnered 39 percent of the vote in that 2018 election, becoming the first challenger to Walden in 30 years to break 30 percent.

Skinner-McLeod has received several endorsements as she runs to the left of Schrader.

The veteran representative has generated enmity from fellow Democrats in recent years.

He originally referred to the second impeachment of President Donald Trump as a "lynching" before backing off and voting to impeach.

Schrader also was only two Democratic members of the House of Representatives to vote against $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that as passed last year. Schrader had objected to the fact that the bill contained money to increase the minimum wage.