La Grande Teacher Challenges Rep. Bentz in Republican Primary Race

Peter Larson, a La Grande teacher, opened his Republican primary challenge against a congressman who won 63% of his district's vote with three specific grievances at a Pendleton High School forum April 3: Cliff Bentz voted for Medicaid and SNAP cuts, went quiet as DOGE disrupted rural Oregon, and then stopped holding in-person town halls altogether.

"The response from Cliff Bentz? He actually stopped holding town halls. He maintained public silence and gave limited interviews. He shrank away from any controversy," Larson told the crowd at the Umatilla County Republican Party candidates forum at Pendleton High School's auditorium.

Larson, who filed his candidacy with the state in September 2025, works as an admissions counselor at Eastern Oregon University and holds a master's degree in teaching. He lives in La Grande with his wife, a pharmacist, and their two young sons. He says he was motivated to run by the combined impact of the Department of Government Efficiency and the Republican reconciliation package known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill" on Oregon's 2nd Congressional District, along with what he describes as Bentz's deliberate withdrawal from public accountability.

Larson is one of at least three Republicans challenging Bentz in the May 19 primary. Andrea Carr, a Klamath County resident and SEIU 503 member leader who provides care for her neurodivergent daughter, has also filed; her husband Eric is a Marine Corps veteran, and she describes herself as a "progressive Republican." Russell McAlmond is the third challenger on record. Larson and Carr appeared together at a listening session at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center in The Dalles on March 29, both pressing the same line of attack against Bentz's retreat from public forums.

The incumbent enters the primary from a position of structural strength. Bentz, 74, has represented the district since January 3, 2021, earned a Trump endorsement via Truth Social on November 3, 2025, and won re-election last November with 63.45% of the vote over Democrat Dan Ruby, who drew 33.59%. He also turned back a 2024 Republican primary challenge from Prineville Mayor Jason Beebe. From January 2021 through March 2026, Bentz missed just 0.5% of roll call votes, well below the 2.1% median among sitting representatives. Following Lori Chavez-DeRemer's departure in 2025, he is now Oregon's sole Republican in Congress.

Oregon's 2nd Congressional District, the 7th largest in the nation, covers roughly two-thirds of the state east of the Willamette Valley, including Baker County. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+14 and the distinction of being the only Oregon district Donald Trump carried in 2020, it is the most reliably Republican terrain in the state, a baseline that has so far proven durable against every internal challenge Bentz has faced.