Two Democrats are challenging U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle in the primary to represent Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, which includes the central and southern coast and parts of the Willamette and Umpqua River Valleys.
Hoyle, a former state lawmaker and labor commissioner from Lane County, has held the seat since 2023. Her campaign has raised nearly $1 million since January 2025, and she has slightly more than $500,000 left in her campaign account as of March 31, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Her past electoral success came from listening to and earning the trust of Republicans and nonaffiliated voters, she told the Capital Chronicle in a statement, and she intends to do the same if elected again.
“I am running for reelection to Congress because this is a time when ordinary people need someone who can fight for them,” Hoyle said.
Hoyle said she has the experience and relationships across the district and political spectrum to serve as a liaison between her constituents and federal agencies. She supports bipartisan legislation and investments that help the district, as well as fighting back against unconstitutional attacks from the Trump administration, she said.
Corvallis small business owner Melissa Bird and Eugene resident Daniel Bahlen are challenging Hoyle in the Democratic primary. The winner will face the winner of the Republican primary — either Monique Despain, an Air Force veteran from Eugene who lost to Hoyle in 2024, or Stefan Strek, a Southern Oregon University student who has run unsuccessfully for governor and Congress in past elections.
The state will begin mailing ballots to voters on Wednesday ahead of the May 19 primary.
Meet the challengers
| MELISSA BIRD Age: 51 Residence: Corvallis Education: Bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies and master’s degree in social work from the University of Utah and a doctoral degree in social work from the University of Southern California Current occupation: Small business owner Prior elected experience: None Fundraising: Bird has raised nearly $54,300 as of March 31, and has $2,500 left in her campaign account, according to the Federal Election Commission. |
After receiving a doctoral degree in California, Melissa Bird moved to Corvallis 10 years ago with her three children to support her husband’s education at Oregon State University.
She owns a small business training government and nonprofit organizations about leadership and community building. She filed to run for Congress in October because she felt it needed more working class people who understand what it’s like to live in the current economy.
Bird is originally from Utah and spent years there doing social work and political advocacy. As a former lobbyist for Planned Parenthood advocating for homeless and LGBTQ+ youth, she said she grew familiar with talking to conservative lawmakers — a skill she said could help her if elected to Congress.
Her identity would also help her represent marginalized people in her district, she said. She is a descendant of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes and married to a disabled veteran.
“I grew up as a non-Mormon, Native person and I’m part of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. “When you grow up different in a world that expects you to be something that you just aren’t, you forge a fire in yourself, and I had to fight for everything that I’ve gotten.”
If elected, Bird said she’d prioritize housing, healthcare, rural economic development, water infrastructure and the environment and reducing political polarization.
She criticized Hoyle for accepting money from political action committees funded by corporations, saying she is out of touch with people in her district. Bird’s said her campaign is not accepting corporate money.
Candidates can’t accept money directly from corporations or unions, though they can take money from political action committees funded by those groups. Data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks money in politics, shows that Hoyle has broad support from unions representing transportation, retail, grocery and construction workers.
“I’m running because I believe that we need people in Congress who are going to fight like hell against the rising tide of fascism,” Bird said.
DANIEL BAHLEN
Age: 48
Residence: Eugene
Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Fort Lewis College, a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Prescott College and a doctoral degree in behavioral health from Arizona State University
Current occupation: Unemployed
Prior elected experience: None
Fundraising: Bahlen has not reported any fundraising to the Federal Election Commission. Candidates are only required to report fundraising if they’ve raised or spent more than $5,000 on their campaign.
Daniel Bahlen’s faith called him to run for Congress, he said, and he is running because he wants to overcome a legacy of Native American exclusion. He quit his job in January at recycled plastics manufacturer PakTech to focus on his campaign.
Bahlen grew up in foster care and was homeless for many years as a youth. After pursuing his education in Colorado and Arizona, he worked in behavioral health at the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation — the tribe he is a part of. However, he had to agree to not renew his license for at least five years after receiving a driving under the influence charge in 2022.
He moved to Oregon in 2023 after visiting it a year prior while helping a former coworker move to the state. He also moved because he was inspired by his faith.
“I was reading the Bible and I saw Jesus moved around, and something just kind of came out at me to just move up here,” he told the Capital Chronicle.
He ran as a Libertarian candidate for the district in the 2024 election while he was finishing his doctorate and living in a homeless camp along Oregon Route 99.
“In the summer of 2024 I saw the Trump-Biden debate and I was kind of blown away by what I saw,” he said. “So I was like, if this is the way it’s going down, I might as well jump in.”
Bahlen lives in a hut supported by the Eugene-based housing solutions nonprofit Community Supported Shelters.
If elected, Bahlen said he would prioritize housing and employing homeless people, returning the land that the United Nations sits on in New York City to local tribes and moving the headquarters to Israel, disaster and earthquake preparedness and addressing student debt.
Oregon Capital Chronicle
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 Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com.
