Both women are engineers and business owners. Both are daughters of teachers. One is a mother of four, the other a stepmother of four. And they’re locked in a primary race for one of the country’s most closely watched and competitive seats in Congress.
Jamie McLeod-Skinner, 56, and Janelle Bynum, 49, are vying for the Democratic nomination in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. The district, redrawn in 2021, stretches from Milwaukie, Lake Oswego and Oregon City south and west across rural Clackamas and Marion counties, then tacks on an extended tail that takes in Redmond and Bend.