Andrea Carr and Peter Larson, two Republicans vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, take questions during a listening session at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center in The Dalles on March 29.
Andrea Carr and Peter Larson, two Republicans vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, take questions during a listening session at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center in The Dalles on March 29.
THE DALLES — U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz has two Republican challengers in the May 19 primary for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, and they’re certainly carving out a separate lane.
Andrea Carr is a sixth-generation Oregonian and SEIU 503 member leader who provides around-the-clock care for her neurodivergent daughter. She lives on a reservation in Klamath County with her husband, Eric, a Marine Corps veteran who assists recovering addicts, and describes herself as a “progressive Republican.” Carr believes in a strong social safety net.
“Not only do we need to get a seat back at the table, the working class needs to be back at the head of the table — because if it weren’t for the working class, we wouldn’t have the United States of America,” she said. “The rich would not be where they are.”
Previously a high school history teacher and now an admissions counselor at Eastern Oregon University, Peter Larson lives in La Grande with his wife, a pharmacist, and their two young sons. Influenced by his father, who served in the National Guard for almost two decades, Larson’s interested in policymaking for veterans and foreign affairs, but he’s also passionate about fiscal responsibility, voting rights and healthcare.
“It feels like every day there’s a new reason why I’ve decided to run, but it really does start about this time last year, watching all the [U.S. Department of Government Efficiency] cuts happen, and really the silence from Cliff Bentz,” said Larson. “My tagline is serving the people and upholding the Constitution.”
On Sunday, March 29, Carr and Larson took questions from several Wasco County residents at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center.
Both candidates slammed Bentz, who’s endorsed by President Trump, for his lack of in-person town halls, describing him as unresponsive and someone who’s changed since he left the Oregon Senate. They also rebuffed his support for Trump’s omnibus spending legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which drastically reduces Medicaid spending and will have particularly acute impacts on rural areas, as previously reported by Columbia Gorge News.
On immigration, Carr and Larson each denounced how federal agents are currently operating, attesting that the majority of immigrants don’t commit crimes, pay taxes and help support the economy. Carr shared how one of her union colleagues got pulled over by immigration agents in Salem, and that she left that interaction with a smashed window, broken ribs and a concussion.
“This is exactly the overreaching government that the Republican Party has been screaming about for decades,” Larson said. “We’re a shining city on a hill, and where there are walls, there should be doors that are open for people to come who have the heart and are willing to be here. That’s not an open border — that’s having a robust and not broken immigration policy.”
Later, when a veteran in the audience brought up Trump’s war in Iran, both candidates scoffed.
“We’re not respecting our veterans, those that have served and continue to serve,” Carr said, emphasizing that the country’s current policies are pitting troops against international law. “There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of veterans that feel the same way you do — who feel like nobody cares … But it matters to me, and I know it matters to Peter.”
Among other topics, Larson criticized Bentz for his lack of a position on Amazon’s data centers in Morrow County, which have exacerbated groundwater pollution, and said tariffs are a tool that should’ve been left in the 20th century. Carr highlighted the threat of wolf predation for cattle ranchers and the many barriers facing small family farms.
With eight people running against Bentz across both primaries, the race for Oregon’s largest district is a crowded one.
This article was updated to correct the number of total candidates challenging Rep Cliff Bentz.
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