Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon) lost her congressional seat in a close election this month to Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum. (Julia Shumway | Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who cultivated a closer relationship with some labor unions than most Republicans and narrowly lost her bid for a second term in Congress earlier this month, is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Labor Department.

Trump on Friday praised Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster who sought endorsements from unions in her unsuccessful reelection campaign, for building relationships with business and labor.

“I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs,” Trump said in a statement. ‘Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.”

Chavez-DeRemer thanked him in a social media post, writing “Working-class Americans finally have a lifeline with you in the White House. It’s time to bring our economy to new heights and secure a prosperous future for all hardworking Americans.”

She narrowly won election in 2022 in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Bend across the Cascades to the suburbs of Portland. Democratic President Joe Biden won the district by 9 points in 2020, and Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum — who twice beat Chavez-DeRemer in state legislative races and will be Oregon’s first Black member of Congress — defeated Chavez-DeRemer by 2.4 points this year.

Chavez-DeRemer operated as a moderate Republican during her nearly two years in federal office, frequently citing an analysis that rated her the second-most bipartisan member of Congress.

She also sought support from unions, garnering endorsements from more than 20 of them. Most of those endorsements came from small local unions, though she received the sole endorsement of Teamsters Joint Council No. 37, which represents roughly 20,000 workers in various industries across Oregon, Idaho and southwest Washington.

National Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer, supported Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary. He posted a photo Friday evening of himself with Trump and Chavez-DeRemer, thanking Trump in the caption for “putting American workers first” by nominating Chavez-DeRemer.

“North America’s strongest union is ready to work with you every step of the way to expand good union jobs and rebuild our nation’s middle class,” he wrote.

Oregon’s largest private-sector union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, gave both Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum its “greenlight” stamp, indicating that both candidates’ values align with the union’s. The state’s other large unions — Service Employees International Union Local 503, with 72,000 members; the Oregon Education Association, with 41,000 members; and the ​​American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, with 300,000 Oregon members — exclusively backed Bynum.

Chavez-DeRemer rarely mentioned Trump on the campaign trail, though she publicly endorsed him ahead of the May primary in Oregon. One of her final campaign stops, an October rally with House Speaker Mike Johnson, was to an audience decked out in pro-Trump merchandise.

The business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701 introduced Chavez-DeRemer at that event, and Johnson commented on her support for unions.

“She’s got more labor union endorsements than any Republican I’ve ever seen in my life,” Johnson said. “She understands the plight of working people.”

Since losing her election, Chavez-DeRemer has vocally praised Trump, writing on X earlier this week that he “expanded on his Working Class coalition by speaking directly to hardworking Americans. This is a true political realignment. We must continue to be the party of the American Worker, with President Trump leading the way!”

Democrats criticize record

Democrats criticized Chavez-DeRemer for endorsing Trump and voting for Johnson as speaker, as well as for inconsistent statements and actions on issues including abortion rights, protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and the Biden administration’s infrastructure law.

Both liberals and conservatives have criticized her labor record — Democrats say she hasn’t proven that she’s a friend of the labor movement despite seeking endorsements, while conservative organizations including the Competitive Enterprise Institute faulted her for backing the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, a Democratic priority which would weaken state “right-to-work” laws to allow unions to collect dues from all employees, increase penalties for employers who violate labor law and strengthen employees’ legal rights to join a union.

Before running for Congress in 2022, Chavez-DeRemer served on the Happy Valley City Council and as mayor of the 28,000-population Portland suburb. She ran unsuccessfully for the state House in 2016 and 2018, losing both times to Bynum.

Some of her colleagues in Oregon’s congressional delegation were surprised by rumors Trump was considering Chavez-DeRemer.

U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat who along with Chavez-DeRemer was one of Oregon’s first Latinas in Congress, called discussion about it “interesting” during a Thursday interview.

“If the Trump administration thinks that she would be a reasonable pick for Department of Labor, I think that could be interesting,” Salinas said. “I don’t know how much background she actually has in labor and workforce issues, I think she served on the committee, but yeah, it could be interesting.”

Retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Democratic dean of Oregon’s congressional delegation, said he didn’t know what to make of Trump’s appointments, who he said were “manifestly polarizing and unqualified.”

“I wish Lori luck,” he told the Capital Chronicle. “I hope they treat her better than they treated the others by not doing their homework. That’s a brutal situation to be in, and I wish her well if she decides to wade into it.”

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, who will return to being the only Republican member of Oregon’s congressional delegation after Chavez-DeRemer’s loss, praised her nomination.

“She is an excellent choice by president-elect Trump to serve as labor secretary and she will be a credit to our great state of Oregon. Congratulations again to you, Lori, soon to be ‘Madam Secretary’!!” Bentz wrote on X.

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X.