Oregon's primary -- Dems sober up, giraffes win

Oregon held its primary this Tuesday.  Turnout was low, the two presidential candidates having already been chosen, but that merely amplifies the voices of those of us who did vote.  And there were still worthwhile matters to decide.

The most important choice was the Democratic candidate for Oregon's fifth Congressional district, which is mostly suburban and rural, and politically purplish.  Until 2022 the district was represented by Kurt Schrader, a centrist Democrat who had held the seat for seven terms and was endorsed by Biden and Pelosi in 2022.  However, in that year he was successfully primaried by a substantially more "progressive" candidate, Jamie McLeod-Skinner -- who went on to lose the general election to the Republican, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who thus became the first Republican to hold that House seat since 2009.

(Interestingly, across the river in Washington state's third district, a mirror-image scenario played out at the same time.  That district had been represented for six terms by Jaime Herrera Beutler, a moderate Republican who voted in favor of impeaching Trump.  In 2022 she was successfully primaried by a Trumpist wingnut who went on to lose the general to the Democratic challenger.)

In this year's primary, McLeod-Skinner ran again, but was challenged by Janelle Bynum, a more centrist figure who was endorsed by most party leaders and by pro-Israel groups.  On Tuesday Bynum won the nomination decisively, 68% to McLeod-Skinner's 31%.  Primary voters apparently decided that winning was more important than left-wing ideological purity.  The chances of gaining back that House seat in November have thus substantially improved.

Also of interest was the primary for Oregon's third district, which includes most of Portland and its eastern suburbs and is reliably blue -- Democrats have held the seat without interruption since 1955.  This year the incumbent retired, so the primary was open, with relative moderate Maxine Dexter facing Shusheela Jayapal, an Israel-basher endorsed by members of "the Squad" (and sister of Pramila Jayapal).  On Tuesday Dexter defeated Jayapal 51% to 29% (there were also five minor candidates).  And this time it wasn't just a matter of making sure of beating the Republican, since any Democrat would hold this seat in November.  Even Democrats in our state's bluest district don't want to inflict another Squaddist on Congress.

These results suggest that Democrats, even the activist types who dominate primaries, are abandoning the extremes and becoming more centrist -- a positive sign for November, especially since Republicans seem to be doing the opposite.  I do wonder if the recent mob thuggery by Israel-haters on campuses, including the trashing of Portland State University's library, has helped sour people on radicals.

A measure for money to upgrade the Oregon Zoo (mailings supporting it emphasized giraffes, for some reason) also passed with 55% of the Portland-area vote.  I voted for it.  If infrastructure spending is popular, maybe next time we can get something done about the condition of the streets around here.