Patti Adair to run for Congress

A conservative Deschutes County commissioner plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum in Oregon’s most competitive congressional district.

Patti Adair, 74, announced her candidacy last week for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which stretches across the Cascades from Bend to Portland. Bynum is in her first term after defeating Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, now secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2024.

Adair, who did not return a phone call or email from the Capital Chronicle, said in a press release that she understands the problems facing the district, calling Bynum an “extreme partisan.”

“In Congress, I will work across party lines to deliver real results that improve the lives of Oregonians across the 5th District,” she said in a statement. “Unlike our current representative, I will put people and problem-solving first, not partisanship and obstructionism.”

Adair, a former chair of the Deschutes County Republican Party, swept into elected office in 2018 by unseating a more moderate Republican, three-term incumbent Tammy Baney. She’s one of two Republicans on the three-person commission, which will expand to five members in 2027 after voters approved a charter change last year.

Adair and her husband, Bob, have lived on a horse ranch near Sisters since they moved from California in 2014. She’s long been a fierce supporter of President Donald Trump,  attending the 2016 Republican National Convention as an Oregon delegate for his nomination.

This year, she and fellow Republican Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone voted to eliminate the county’s volunteer committee focused on diversity, equity and inclusion after a backlash to DEI work from the Trump administration. At the time, The Bulletin quoted Adair as saying, “We’re following the president from the top. The federal government is in charge of a lot of funding that comes to Deschutes County, and I would hate to lose it.”

She has also voted to prevent the county’s health care plan from covering abortion services for more than 1,000 Deschutes County employees. State law since 2017 has required care including abortion, screenings and contraception be covered at no cost to patients, but religious-based insurers and some self-funded group plans like the one Deschutes County offers were exempt.

Bynum said in a statement that she has spent the past year fighting to lower costs, create jobs and make life better for Oregonians.

“From securing funding for our district to passing bills in the House that support our small businesses, my focus has always been on breaking through partisan gridlock to deliver real results to our communities,” she said. “I hope to earn another term from my constituents and continue working to move things forward for the next generation.”

A regional spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee did not respond to emailed questions about Adair’s candidacy. Eileen Kiely, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon and a Deschutes County resident, said she looked forward to watching Bynum debate Adair if Adair won her primary.

“At 74, I thought Patti was ready to retire as county commissioner,” Kiely said. “She always seemed more interested in Donald Trump and her horses than in meeting the needs of Deschutes County.”

Adair has not yet reported any federal fundraising, and her state campaign finance bank account has a balance of just less than $15,000. Bynum had almost $1.4 million in the bank.