Janelle Bynum
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 39th district
Assumed office
January 11, 2021
Preceded byChristine Drazan
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 51st district
In office
January 9, 2017 – January 11, 2021
Preceded byShemia Fagan
Succeeded byJames Hieb
Personal details
Born
Janelle Sojourner Irick

January 31, 1975 (age 48)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationFlorida A&M University (BA)
University of Michigan (MBA)

Janelle Sojourner Bynum (née Irick; born January 31, 1975) is an American Democratic politician, restaurateur, and former engineer serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. She currently represents the 39th district, which covers northern Clackamas County, including most of Happy Valley and parts of Oregon City, Milwaukie and the surrounding area.

First elected to the legislature in 2016, Bynum previously represented the 51st district, which covered southern Multnomah County and northern Clackamas County, including the southeasternmost part of Portland, most of Happy Valley and Damascus, and the surrounding area.

Early life and education

Bynum grew up in Washington, D.C.[1][2] She graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Florida A&M University in 1996 and with a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Michigan in 2000.[3]

As a student at Florida A&M University, Bynum received a scholarship from Boeing, and later served as a summer associate for the company.[4] After graduating from college, Bynum worked at General Motors as a steering systems engineer while pursuing her MBA.[5]

Career

Early career

While at General Motors, she was in Taiwan for a week following the 9/11 terrorist attacks' impact on air travel. Following this experience, in 2002, Bynum relocated to Clackamas County to help her mother-in-law run a McDonald’s franchise.[5][6][7]

Oregon House of Representatives

In 2016, after incumbent Shemia Fagan opted not to seek re-election to her seat in Oregon House District 51, Bynum filed to run as a Democrat in the May 2016 primary election. Bynum won the Democratic primary over Randy Shannon, a former member of the Damascus City Council, receiving 66% of the vote.[8] In the general election, she defeated Republican candidate Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the mayor of Happy Valley, with 51% of the vote in what was considered one of the most competitive House races for the 2016 cycle.[9][10][11][12]

Bynum, who is Black, was reported to the police as a "suspicious person" while canvassing a neighborhood in her district in 2018.[13]

In 2018, Bynum again faced Chavez-DeRemer, whom she defeated with 53% of the vote. In 2020, Bynum won re-election against Republican Jane Hays, a school administrator, and Libertarian candidate Donald Crawford.[14]

In January 2022, after Tina Kotek resigned her position to focus on her run for Governor,[15] Bynum ran for the position of Oregon Speaker of the House against Representative Dan Rayfield of Corvallis.[16] In a closed-door meeting, Rayfield defeated Bynum for the Democratic caucus nomination for Speaker.[17][18] Despite losing her party's nomination for Speaker, in February 2022, Bynum was the first Black person in Oregon's history to receive votes for Speaker of the House when she received four votes for Speaker.[19][20][21]

In 2022, following redistricting, Bynum was drawn into the 39th District which no longer included East Portland and parts of Gresham and instead covered parts of unincorporated Clackamas County.[22] Though the race was considered competitive by The Oregonian in early November 2022,[23] she ultimately defeated Republican candidate Kori Haynes by a 10-point margin.[22]

Personal life

Bynum and her husband, Mark, have four children. They own two restaurants in the area. She is a Christian.[1][3][24]

Electoral history

2022

2022 Oregon House of Representatives 39th district election[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum (incumbent) 15,678 54.96
Republican Kori Haynes 12,801 44.87
Write-in 48 0.17
Total votes 28,527 100.0
2022 Oregon House of Representatives 39th district Democratic primary [26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum (incumbent) 4,885 98.63
Democratic Write-in 68 1.37
Total votes 4,953 100.0

2020

2020 Oregon House of Representatives 51st district election[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum (incumbent) 18,939 52.83
Republican Jane Hays 15,466 43.15
Libertarian Don Crawford 1,393 3.89
Write-in 48 0.13
Total votes 35,846 100.0

2018

2018 Oregon House of Representatives 51st district election[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum (incumbent) 14,843 53.92
Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer 12,620 45.85
Write-in 63 0.23
Total votes 27,526 100.0
2018 Oregon House of Representatives 51st district Democratic primary [29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum (Incumbent) 3,405 98.04
Democratic Write-in 68 1.96
Total votes 3,405 100.0

2016

2016 Oregon House of Representatives 51st district election[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum 14,310 50.85
Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer 13,746 48.85
Write-in 86 0.30
Total votes 28,142 100.0
2016 Oregon House of Representatives 51st district Democratic primary [31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Janelle Bynum 4,218 68.91
Democratic Randy Shannon 1,827 29.85
Democratic Write-in 76 1.24
Total votes 6,121 100.0

References

  1. 1 2 "State Representative Janelle Bynum". Democratic Party of Oregon. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  2. ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel (October 18, 2016). "Janelle Bynum Brought Family Leave to East Portland McDonald's Workers". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Janelle Bynum's Biography". Project VoteSmart. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Janelle Bynum -Higher Heights for America PAC". www.higherheightsforamericapac.org. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Janelle Bynum". Girls Like You and Me. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  7. ↑ "The Only Black Woman in Oregon's House Tries To Keep Seat". Governing. November 2, 2022. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Democrats pick Janelle Bynum to challenge Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer for HD51". Portland Tribune. May 18, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ "November 8, 2016, General Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  10. ↑ Sevcenko, Melanie (January 12, 2017). "State Representative Janelle Bynum Breaks Records, Barriers". The Skanner. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  11. ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel (November 9, 2016). "Oregon's Most Expensive House Race Will End With Narrow Victory for Janelle Bynum". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  12. ↑ Lehman, Chris (October 31, 2016). "The Road To Legislative Control In Oregon Leads Through The Suburbs". Northwest News Network. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  13. ↑ Zaveri, Mihir (July 5, 2018). "A Black Oregon Lawmaker Was Knocking on Doors. Someone Called the Police". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ "WW's November 2020 Endorsements: Oregon House". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek resigning to focus on governor's race". opb. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  16. ↑ "House Democrats will vote this weekend for likely next Oregon speaker". opb. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Rep. Dan Rayfield is likely to be Oregon's next House speaker". opb. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  18. ↑ "House Democrats will vote this weekend for likely next Oregon speaker - OPB". www.opb.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Julia Shumway on X: "Rep. @DanRayfield is the next Speaker of the Oregon House. Final vote: 32 Rayfield, 18 Breese-Iverson, 4 Bynum. #orleg #orpol"". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  20. ↑ Radnovich, Connor (February 2, 2022). "First day of session: Call for empathy, then a public protest". Register-Guard.
  21. ↑ Oregonian/OregonLive, Hillary Borrud | The (February 2, 2022). "Rep. Janelle Bynum was poised to become Oregon's first House speaker of color, but a secret nomination process handed the job to someone else". oregonlive. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  22. 1 2 Oregonian/OregonLive, Aimee Green | The (November 14, 2022). "Democratic Rep. Janelle Bynum wins re-election to Happy Valley seat". oregonlive. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  23. ↑ Oregonian/OregonLive, Aimee Green | The (November 2, 2022). "Rep. Janelle Bynum works to win over new swath of Clackamas County voters in competitive House race against newcomer Kori Haynes". oregonlive. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  24. ↑ Greenidge, Jomo (March 13, 2016). "Janelle Bynum announces candidacy for the Oregon Legislature in House District 51". Black PDX. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  25. ↑ "November 8, 2022, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  26. ↑ "May 17, 2022, Primary Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  27. ↑ "November 3, 2020, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  28. ↑ "November 6, 2018, General Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  29. ↑ "May 15, 2018, Primary Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  30. ↑ "November 8, 2016, General Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  31. ↑ "May 17, 2016, Primary Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
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