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Janelle Bynum, a former Oregon legislator from Happy Valley, has declared victory in the race for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District.

“I am beyond honored that my neighbors have chosen me to be the next congresswoman for Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District,” Bynum said in a statement Friday after The Oregonian/OregonLive called the race for her. “My work has always been a love letter to Oregon’s children. I ran for office to make their futures brighter, and I’ll do just that in Washington — for their education, for their reproductive freedoms, for their job opportunities, and so much more.”

If the results hold, Bynum would become Oregon’s first Black member of Congress, flipping the district in one of the nation’s most high-profile elections and helping Democrats maintain their increasingly slim hope of controlling the U.S. House next year.

As of Friday morning, Bynum was beating incumbent Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer with about 48% of the vote compared to the incumbent’s 45%, according to Oregon secretary of state results updated Thursday evening. In all, she was leading by 8,575 votes.

Bynum’s lead comes as the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives remains in play, with a handful of races that have yet to be decided in this year’s election. But the race would be a significant win for the Democratic party nationwide as it reels from losing control of the White House and the U.S. Senate this week. And it would continue a trend of this election cycle: The Pacific Northwest has been a rare sign of life for the Democratic Party, with statewide candidate wins in Oregon and Washington and another big House race, Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, going to incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Chavez-DeRemer’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, and she has not conceded.

In her statement, Bynum said: “I am proud to be the first — but not the last — Black Member of Congress from Oregon, and I’m grateful for what this moment means not just for my children, but for all young people across our state to see that change is possible.”

The race drew in millions of dollars in campaign contributions and became the 11th most expensive U.S. House campaign in the country this year with more than $26 million in outside spending, according to the nonprofit Open Secrets, which tracks outside spending in political races.

Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which stretches from suburban Portland south to Albany and east to Bend, was held for seven terms by Democrat Kurt Schrader, and President Joe Biden won here in 2020. Two years ago, Chavez-DeRemer flipped the seat for Republicans, winning by just two percentage points.

Bynum is a mother of four who worked as an engineer and owned four McDonald’s restaurants. She served in the legislature as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, helping pass a police reform package and a bill to boost the local semiconductor industry.

In Congress, Bynum has said she would push for many of the policies of the Democratic Party nationwide, enacting stricter gun laws, lowering housing and drug costs and seeking to curb climate change.

Bynum ran with the backing of most of Oregon’s top Democrats, including Gov. Tina Kotek, as well as powerful political groups like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats national campaign area.

She outraised Chavez-DeRemer, with more than $5.8 million in total contributions, much of which came in during the final months of the race.

The 5th Congressional District is a true swing seat that stretches across urban, suburban and rural communities in Oregon. In unofficial returns, Bynum was winning in Clackamas, Deschutes and Multnomah counties, and Chavez-DeRemer was leading in Marion and Linn counties.

“In Congress, I will always stand up for Oregonians — no matter who you voted for in this election — and fight tirelessly every day to deliver for families all across our district,” Bynum said Friday. “Today, we chart a new path forward for Oregon, one of hope, opportunity, and change for the better.”

Votes are still being counted in a number of swing districts elsewhere in the country that could decide which party controls the U.S. House.

This story may be updated.

A high-powered new addition to the Big Ten Conference met the same fate as many before them.

No. 2 Nebraska (23-1, 13-0 B1G) volleyball continues their dominance in the conference with a sweep of No. 12 Oregon (17-5, 9-4 B1G), 25-12, 26-24, 25-18. That makes for 20 consecutive wins and 17 sweeps on the year.

The Huskers dominated the first set, holding the Ducks to negative hitting. The second set needed extra points, but the Big Red prevailed late partially due to one of several correct challenges from coach John Cook. The third set saw Nebraska slowly pull away to take the victory.

Thursday was the second straight match to involve the Huskers and set an arena’s attendance record. Oregon’s new record of 8,566 is nearly 1,200 more than previous record set last year.

Facing one of the better blocking teams in the nation Nebraska hit .278 with 44 kills, 14 errors and were blocked seven times. Serving and defense were on full display as well with four aces, six blocks and 52 digs for the Huskers who out-dug the Ducks 52-38.

Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair led the way, both hitting over .400 with double figure kills. Murray with 14 and 10 digs on .414, Landfair with 13 and two blocks on .407.

Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson chipped in six kills each while Bergen Reilly added three of her own to go along with 33 assists and nine digs.

With her first dig of the match, Lexi Rodriguez took sole possession of second place in career digs in Nebraska volleyball history. The senior Libero finished the match with 14 digs.

Olivia Mauch continued her masterful play from the service line with two aces.

Mimi Colyer led the way for Oregon with 52 swings and 13 kills as the Ducks broke out a 6-2. Cook told the Big Ten Network after the match that he expected Oregon to go away from the 6-2 after being dominated in the first set, but the Ducks stuck with it an kept the next two sets much closer.

The Pacific Northwest road trip continues as Nebraska will face the Washington Huskies Saturday. That will be another late match, with first serve set for 9:30 p.m. CST.

Box score

Set 1: Nebraska took a 4-0 lead, but Oregon fought back to tie the score at 6-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, two by Landfair and one by Jackson made it 11-6 Big Red. Landfair added three more kills and a block with Allick as the Huskers built an 18-8 advantage. After Oregon scored three in a row, a service error by the Ducks preceded an ace by Mauch, a block by Allick and Beason and a kill by Murray that made it 22-11 Huskers. A kill by Jackson and a solo block by the sophomore middle blocker gave the Huskers a 25-12 win. NU hit .476 in set one and held Oregon to -.031. 

Set 2: Oregon led 8-6 when Murray and Jackson pounded kills, and Murray served an ace for a 10-8 Husker lead. Reilly dumped a kill before Beason tallied another to make it 13-10. But the Ducks ran off three straight points to even the score at 14-14. After a Husker timeout, Murray tooled a block and the Ducks hit long twice to put NU back in front, 17-14. The Ducks rallied to tie the score at 19-19, but Jackson terminated a kill and Allick and Landfair combined for a block and a 21-19 advantage. Landfair ended a long rally with a kill to make it 22-20, but the Ducks came right back to even the score at 22-22 after a kill and a Husker hitting error. After an NU timeout, Landfair posted her eighth kill, but Colyer answered for the Ducks. The Ducks then hit long to give NU set point, 24-23, but a kill by Oregon tied it 24-24. Oregon hit wide to give the Big Red another set point chance, and Murray ended the set at 26-24 with her ninth kill. 

Set 3: Oregon led 6-4 when Kennedi Orr served a 4-0 run to put the Huskers up 8-6. Reilly dumped two kills, and Allick and Landfair each posted one. After Oregon tied the score at 8-8, Landfair earned a sideout kill and Reilly served an ace before an Oregon error made it 11-8. The Ducks came back with a 3-0 run to make it 11-11, but Beason terminated and Mauch served her second ace before Oregon hit wide for a 14-11 Husker edge. After an Oregon timeout, Reilly set Beason for back-to-back kills, and Allick and Beason stuffed a Duck attack for a 17-11 lead. After Oregon got within 17-13, Allick recorded a solo block, and three Murray kills put the Huskers up 22-15. Nebraska finished off a 25-18 win with three kills by Landfair. 

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Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

A University of Oregon Greek Life administrator was placed on leave after he launched into an expletive-filled rant about Donald Trump’s 2024 election win, callously telling supporters of the president-elect to “jump off a f–king bridge.”

Leonard Serrato, the fraternity and sorority life assistant director, faced immediate backlash following the offensive tirade he posted on his personal Instagram page.

“I say this in the most disrespectful way possible: I don’t care if you are my family, I don’t care if you are my friend, I don’t care if we’ve been friends our entire lives, you can literally go f–k yourself if you voted for Donald Trump,” Serrato said, according to The Oregonian.

Serrato, who proudly called himself a “petty person,” then took aim at voters who were concerned about inflation.

“If you are so sad about your groceries being expensive, get a better f–cking paying job,” he said.

“Do better in life, get a f–king education, do something because you are f–king stupid and I hope you go jump off a f–king bridge.”

The school has placed him on administrative leave and opened an investigation into the matter.

“As a public university we take our duty seriously to provide an environment that welcomes diversity of thought and respect in alignment with our education mission,” the spokesperson told The Post in an email.

“While we investigate, we are providing support for concerned students and employees, including resources for mental and emotional health.”

The school also counseled Serrato in the aftermath and confirmed the post was taken down, the spokesperson said.

A message to Serrato was not immediately returned Thursday night.

Serrato was jailed for 90 days more than a decade ago after the then-senior at Fresno State brought alcohol for a party with new members at his frat house, according to a report.

An 18-year-old pledge died that night, which landed Serrato in legal trouble, he recalled in a 2021 press release about him joining a job at the University of Indiana.

Since that tragic night, he said his focus was on ending hazing and improving Greek Life.

“My focus is accountability: holding our Greek communities accountable for their actions, but also holding myself accountable that they’re being educated properly,” he previously said.