La Grande Educator Challenges Incumbent Bentz for Oregon's 2nd Congressional District

Peter Larson walked into Pendleton High School's auditorium on April 3 with a blunt declaration for Eastern Oregon voters: "I do not believe that we are being accurately represented here in Congressional District 2."

The La Grande resident, an admissions counselor at Eastern Oregon University and former high school history teacher, is challenging Rep. Cliff Bentz in the May 19 Republican primary. Bentz won re-election in 2024 with 63.9% of the vote and currently holds $1.2 million in campaign funds, backed by a November 2025 Trump endorsement on Truth Social that called him "a tremendous leader."

Larson, who holds a master's degree in teaching and previously taught at Sweet Home High School, said his candidacy took shape while watching federal developments unfold: "It feels like every day there's a new reason why I've decided to run, but it really does start about this time last year, watching all the [U.S. Department of Government Efficiency] cuts happen, and really the silence from Cliff Bentz."

That silence on DOGE is one of several specific critiques Larson aired at the forum, organized by the Umatilla County Republican Party. His sharpest attack centered on Bentz's votes to cut Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Across the 20-county district, 40.4% of constituents are enrolled in Medicaid, with Malheur County reaching 54.3%, according to an Oregon Health and Sciences University report. Those numbers turned politically charged earlier this year when Bentz faced angry constituents at in-person town halls following federal employee layoffs; attendees warned they would vote him out over Medicaid. Bentz subsequently cancelled future in-person town halls. He has defended his Medicaid position by arguing that high enrollment reflects a lack of jobs due to Oregon's "negative business atmosphere."

Larson also challenged the SAVE Act at the forum, arguing it could impose costly citizenship-documentation burdens on married women who changed their names and on rural residents who cannot easily afford the paperwork. On immigration, he said "the real issue is our broken immigration system," noting the path to legal citizenship can take "years upon years upon years" and cost "thousands upon thousands of dollars." He also criticized Bentz for what he called silence on Amazon's data centers in Morrow County, which have been linked to groundwater pollution, and called tariffs a tool that "should've been left in the 20th century."

Larson called Bentz a "failure in multiple ways" on Facebook and pointedly challenged whether Bentz considered his own 2020, 2022, and 2024 victories legitimate, a reference to ongoing election integrity debates within the party.

Larson is not the only Republican challenger. Andrea Carr, a sixth-generation Oregonian from Klamath County who describes herself as a "progressive Republican" and serves as an SEIU 503 member leader, has also filed, as has Russell McAlmond. Carr and Larson have both criticized Bentz's cancelled town halls and his support for Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which they argue will devastate rural health care access.

Five Democrats round out the field, including Patty Snow of Phoenix, Rebecca Mueller of Medford, and Dawn Rasmussen of The Dalles. The district carries a Cook Partisan Voter Index of R+14, and Democrats last cracked 39% in 2018, when Jamie McLeod-Skinner drew 39.4% of the vote.

Larson, who lives with his wife, a pharmacist, and their two young sons, filed his candidacy after September 22, 2025. The general election is November 3, 2026.