EDITORIAL: Bonamici, Wyden for Congress

Oct. 8—We had hoped by now that our nation would have moved on from the poison of the 2020 presidential election.

With the challenge of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages driving up consumer costs, an increase in violent crime, a lack of housing and abortion rights at risk, there are plenty of public policy issues for voters to dissect.

Polls show that voters nationally are most concerned about the economy as the midterm elections for Congress approach in November. We are, too.

We also have more parochial, bread-and-butter concerns, such as whether our region will get its share of federal infrastructure dollars and money to help close rural gaps in health care, mental health and addiction treatment, child care and access to broadband.

But we will not pretend that this is a typical election year. Surveys show a significant share of Republicans don't believe President Joe Biden was legitimately elected. Republican candidates across the country talk in code about "election integrity" or parrot former President Donald Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Far from a sideshow, rewarding election deniers with more power in Congress — or any elected office, anywhere — is a threat to our democracy.

U.S. House

We endorse U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat who represents the 1st Congressional District, which covers the North Coast.

Bonamici, who won a special election in 2012, is campaigning for her sixth full two-year term.

She is the chairwoman of the House Education and Labor Committee's subcommittee on civil rights and human services. She is also the co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus and serves on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

With Democrats in control of the House and Senate, the congresswoman has had more opportunity to get her initiatives passed into law.

Bonamici, who serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, was among the negotiators on the CHIPS and Science Act, a $280 billion investment in the domestic semiconductor industry that could benefit Oregon.

She was able to add her Coastal and Ocean Acidification Research and Innovation Act as part of the package. The initiative calls for increased investments in coastal research and monitoring and a closer look into the socioeconomic impacts of climate change.

At a field hearing of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis at Clatsop Community College in Astoria in August, Bonamici brought together regional experts to discuss the impacts of climate change on the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean.

"I hope we can take some good lessons back, that addressing these ocean health issues and addressing issues of healthy estuaries and healthy coastlines, it's good for the community, it's good for the economy and it's good for the planet," she said afterward.

Chris Mann, a Portland native and U.S. Army veteran, is the Republican candidate. He has served as executive director of the Oregon Military Support Network, which helps veterans and their families.

His campaign website has an "American First" theme. In an exchange with KATU before the May primary, he said the biggest threat to democracy in the United States is "the elites of the world that are trying to shut down freedom and gain control of every person walking the planet."

On his Facebook page, Mann shared a photo in April posing with Michael Flynn at a ReAwaken America Tour event in Keizer. Flynn is the retired lieutenant general and former national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador but was pardoned by Trump. The tour promotes conspiracy theories and the lie that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.

U.S. Senate

We endorse U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat.

Elected in a special election in 1996, Wyden is seeking his fifth full six-year term.

After Democrats took back the Senate in 2021, he has served as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He is also the co-leader of the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Wyden's committee leadership, and his seniority, place him in a unique position to influence national policy and secure money and resources for Oregon.

We recognize, in particular, his drive to protect consumer privacy from corporate abuse and his dedication to expanding mental health treatment and crisis response.

We also appreciate the senator's commitment to holding annual town hall meetings in each of Oregon's 36 counties.

At a Clatsop County town hall in April livestreamed from the newsroom of The Astorian, Wyden called mental health "deeply personal" and a "cause of a lifetime," sharing his brother's struggle with schizophrenia.

Jo Rae Perkins, a financial adviser in Albany, is the Republican candidate. She lost a Senate race to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley in 2020 after previously losing Republican primary campaigns for Senate and House.

Two years ago, her ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement made national news. QAnon depicts Trump as the hero in a clash against satanic forces, pedophilia and child trafficking. After her election defeat, she was among the protesters at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In the days after the insurrection, Perkins shared the hashtag #TrumpWon in a Twitter post that downplayed the violence and suggested antifa was responsible.