Janelle Bynum
Official portrait, 2025
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOregon's5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Lori Chávez-DeRemer
Member of theOregon House of Representatives
In office January 9, 2017 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Shemia Fagan
Succeeded by	April Dobson
Constituency	51st district (2017–2023) 39th district (2023–2025)
Personal details
Born	Janelle Sojourner Irick (1975-01-31)January 31, 1975 (age 50) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mark Bynum
Children	4
Education	Florida A&M University (BS) University of Michigan (MBA)
Signature
Website	House website Campaign website

Janelle Sojourner Bynum (néeIrick; born January 31, 1975) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as theU.S. representative forOregon's 5th congressional district since 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she previously served in theOregon House of Representatives from 2017 to 2025.

First elected to Oregon's legislature in2016, Bynum previously represented the state's51st district, which covered southernMultnomah County and northernClackamas County, including the southeasternmost part ofPortland, most ofHappy Valley andDamascus and the surrounding area. She later represented the39th district, which covers northern Clackamas County, including most of Happy Valley and parts ofOregon City,Milwaukie and the surrounding area.

On November 5, 2024, Bynum was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives to representOregon's 5th district after defeating incumbent RepublicanLori Chavez-DeRemer in a close race. She is the first black member of Congress from Oregon.

Bynum grew up inWashington, D.C.^[1][2] She attendedBanneker High School and graduated fromThe Madeira School, and she interned onCapitol Hill during those years.^[3][4] She graduated with abachelor's degree inelectrical engineering fromFlorida A&M University in 1996 and with aMaster in Business Administration from theUniversity of Michigan in 2000.^[5]

As a student atFlorida A&M University, Bynum received a scholarship fromBoeing, and she later served as a summer associate for the company.^[6] After graduating from college, Bynum worked atGeneral Motors as a steering systems engineer while pursuing her MBA.^[7]

While at General Motors, she was in Taiwan for a week following the9/11 terrorist attacks' impact on air travel.^[7] Following this experience, in 2002, Bynum relocated toClackamas County, Oregon to help her mother-in-law run aMcDonald'sfranchise.^[7][8]

In 2016, Bynum ran forOregon's 51st House district after incumbentShemia Fagan chose not to seek re-election. She won the Democratic primary with 66% of the vote, defeating formerDamascus City Councilman Randy Shannon.^[9] In thegeneral election, she faced RepublicanLori Chavez-DeRemer, the mayor ofHappy Valley, and won by a 51% to 49% margin in one of the most competitive state House races of the cycle.^{[10][11][12][13]}

During her 2018 re-election campaign, while canvassing a neighborhood in her district, Bynum, who is Black, was reported to the police as a "suspicious person."^[14] That year, she again faced Chavez-DeRemer and won with 53% of the vote.^[15] In 2020, she won another term by defeating Republican Jane Hays, a school administrator, andLibertarian candidate Donald Crawford.^[16][17]

In 2022, followingredistricting, Bynum was drawn into the39th District which no longer includedEast Portland and parts ofGresham and instead covered parts of unincorporatedClackamas County.^[18] Though the race was considered competitive byThe Oregonian in early November 2022,^[19] she ultimately defeated Republican candidate Kori Haynes by a 10-point margin.^[18]

In 2019, Bynum cast the sole vote in Oregon's House of Representatives against a bill that would give more time forrape survivors to file civil suits, extending thestatute of limitations.^[20] In 2020, Bynum and other state legislators pressed GovernorKate Brown to release nearly 2,000 state prison inmates, about 14 percent of Oregon’s inmate population, commuting their sentences.^[21]

In January 2022, afterTina Kotek resigned her position to focus on herrun for Governor,^[22] Bynum ran for the position ofOregon Speaker of the House against RepresentativeDan Rayfield ofCorvallis.^[23] In a closed-door meeting, Rayfield defeated Bynum for the Democratic caucus nomination for Speaker.^[24] 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.^[25][26][27]

As of 2023, Bynum served as chair of the House Committee on Economic Development and Small Business.^[28] In April 2023, as Chief Sponsor, Bynum supported the passage of Senate Bill 4, the Oregon CHIPS Act, a $210 million initiative to strengthen the state's semiconductor industry. The act provides funding for grants, loans, research, and land development to attract semiconductor companies and promote advanced manufacturing in Oregon.^[29] Bynum retired from the Oregon House of Representatives to run for congress, and was succeeded by April Dobson in January 2025.^[30]

On June 21, 2023, Bynum announced she would seek the Democratic nomination forOregon's 5th congressional district, a seat then held by her 2016 and 2018 Republican opponentLori Chavez-DeRemer.^[28] In January 2024, theDCCC named Bynum to its "Red to Blue" program, giving her access to increased fundraising, training, and guidance from the national Democratic Party.^[31] On May 21, 2024, Bynum defeatedJamie McLeod-Skinner in the Democratic primary.^[32]

On November 5, 2024, Bynum narrowly won the general election after defeating incumbent RepublicanLori Chavez-DeRemer, who she had previously defeated twice in state-level races.^[33] The race was the 11th most expensive in the2024 cycle, drawing over $26 million inoutside spending.^[33] Bynum is the first black member of Congress elected in Oregon.^[33]

Bynum'scommittee assignments for the119th Congress include:^[34]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets
  • Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance

Bynum'scaucus memberships include:^[34]

• Future Forum (new member co-chair)
• New Democrat Coalition
• Bipartisan Women's Caucus (vice chair)
• Congressional Black Caucus

Bynum and her husband, Mark, have four children and live in Happy Valley.^[1] They own severalMcDonald's franchises in the Portland area.^[35][36] She is a Christian.^[5]

• Campaign website
• Legislative websiteArchived February 2, 2017, at theWayback Machine
• Appearances onC-SPAN

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• Articles with short description
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