Canby Mayor Brian Hodson will join four Oregon Republican congressional candidates and other local leaders in a meeting Wednesday with U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The California Republican is making a rare Portland metro area stop in support of incumbent Cliff Bentz, the only current GOP member of Oregon’s congressional delegation, and three other hopefuls: Mike Erickson, Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Alek Skarlatos.
Of the three, pollsters give Chavez-DeRemer the best chances for stealing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the GOP come November.
The former mayor of Happy Valley is the Republican nominee for Oregon’s newly redrawn 5th District, which is the most evenly matched of Oregon’s six seats in the chamber.
And her opponent, progressive Deschutes County attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner, may have a harder time wooing moderates and independents than Kurt Schrader, the centrist Dem she ousted in the May primary.
Erickson and Skarlatos also have more reason for hope than Oregon Republicans typically have in recent election cycles, as both face non-incumbents.
Erickson, a Lake Oswego businessman, is challenging State Representative Andrea Salinas in Oregon’s newly created 6th District, which was gifted to the state following the most recent census.
Meanwhile, Skarlatos, the former Oregon National Guardsman who helped thwart an armed terrorist attack aboard a Paris train in 2015, and later played himself in the Clint Eastwood-directed movie adaptation, faces Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle for the 4th District seat soon to be vacated by retiring Congressman Peter DeFazio.
But McCarthy’s Wednesday visit is ostensibly focused on crime in the Rose City and the “negative impact liberal policies have caused across communities beyond the city of Portland.”
Hodson said he looks forward to discussing what has worked in Canby and does not see public safety as a political issue.
“I do see it as bigger than right vs. left, Democrats vs. Republicans,” he said. “Across the board, having a safe place to live, work and play is crucial to all involved.
“I see this as an opportunity to share what we have done to keep Canby one of the top 10 safest cities in Oregon. I also see this as an opportunity to elevate increasing concerns to a federal level.”
Leaders from other cities also attended Wednesday’s roundtable at the Grand Hotel in Bridgeport Village in Tigard, including Aurora Mayor Brian Asher, Molalla Mayor Scott Keyser and Oregon City Commissioner Adam Marl, as well as officials from Sandy, Troutdale, Fairview, Gresham and Sublimity.
Gresham Police Officers Association president Tommy Walker is also expected to join the discussion.
The event will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Grand Hotel in Bridgeport Village in Tigard.
