ILWU International President Bob McEllrath with Congressional candidate Dave McTeague, May 2016. Photo by Dawn Des Brisay, ILWU Local 40.
A progressive House candidate is tying himself as closely to Bernie Sanders as possible in the hopes that it will help him pull off a major upset against a relatively conservative Democratic incumbent in Oregon next Tuesday, foreshadowing a way in which the independent Vermont senator’s political revolution may continue after the presidential primary has concluded.
Dave McTeague served as a state representative in Oregon’s legislature before working as the executive director of the state’s chiropractic examiners board. He’s challenging Rep. Kurt Schrader, who is serving his fourth term as the representative for Oregon’s 5th district. Schrader is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition for conservative Democrats and has one of the most conservative voting records for a Democrat in the House.
McTeague has said he entered the race for Schrader’s seat because he was inspired by Sanders, who has engaged millions of supporters across the country.
“These days a lot of voters, Democratic voters too, don’t feel represented by the Washington Establishment and want real change,” McTeague said in a statement announcing his candidacy. “This is evident in the success of Sen. Sander’s insurgent presidential campaign, which I strongly support … I don’t have any illusions about this effort. Running against an entrenched incumbent is like taking on the Death Star in Star Wars especially one with access to a million or more dollars of PAC money.”
McTeague has some well-organized help behind him. The Working Families Party (WFP), a political group that campaigns for progressive candidates and policies, has sent two different Sanders-themed mailers to roughly 20,000 households in the district in support of McTeague. (The WFP, which has chapters in a dozen states, endorsed Sanders in December, which was its first national endorsement.)