Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer on the fight for Oregon's 5th District

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- It will be one of the most closely-watched congressional races in the nation and it could help decide the balance of power in Congress.

Freshman Republican Congresswoman and former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer will battle Democrat Janelle Bynum to keep her House seat in the most evenly-divided congressional district in Oregon.

The 5th Congressional district includes southeast suburbs of Portland, parts of Marion County and Jefferson Counties, all of Linn County and into Deschutes County, including Sisters and Bend.

The Democrats are coming hard for this seat, throwing their weight - financial and otherwise - behind Bynum, already raising more than $2 million.

Rep. Chavez-DeRemer returns to Eye on Northwest Politics to discuss what's at stake in this race, making the case to stay in office.

"You have to be at the table in order to tell Oregon's story and I've spent my last 16 months doing just that," she emphasized. "So we feel good about the team we've built. I think as of this last week, of the 302 bills that I'm on, 83% of those are bipartisan. So I'm not only talking the talk, I'm walking the walk."

The border has been one of her biggest issues from day one. Regarding President Biden's recent executive order limiting asylum seekers at the southern border - and turning away those who enter illegally - Chavez-DeRemer wonders if it came too late. However, she noted something should still be done.

"We're close to 10 million people who have come across that border unchecked and so that's the question we have to answer," she noted. "Will this executive order answer that question? And then how will the communities address it as well? So working together is important. Being at the table is important and I'm at every one of those tables."

In March, Chavez-DeRemer endorsed former President Trump. Since he has now been convicted of 34 counts related to falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels case and has more trials coming up, she disclosed whether he still has her endorsement.

Further, with continued polarization on the national level and representing a 'purple' district, Chavez-DeRemer believes if the everyday issues are talked about enough, some form of consensus can be reached.

"You don't agree on everything," she acknowledged. "But if we can stay focused on the local issues - People are concerned with the economy, people are concerned about their jobs, people are concerned about the crime crisis. They want to support our public safety and our law enforcement officers. They want to make sure that we have a good education for our kids. Those are the things I work on."

Chavez-DeRemer also had a rebuttal to Bynum's comments on Democrats potential to take back the 5th district.

"There are things she has to defend in her eight years and this will be a policy race," she noted. "And the voters of Oregon's 5th District are going to decide, 'Did somebody talk the talk, walk the walk, do what they said?' and do they trust you."

She continued, "I can tell you this. The voters of Oregon's 5th District have lent me their voice. They trust me, they believe in me and I've done the work that they've asked me to do and I'll continue down that road."

Watch the full interview in the video above.