WASCO, Ore. – Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is in his fifth decade in Congress and showing no inclination to step aside even as pressure builds on aging Democratic officeholders to give way to a new generation.
He says he plans to seek another term in 2028, when he will be 79 years old. He has traveled to all 36 Oregon counties every year he has been in the Senate and intends to keep doing so.
After a recent town hall in Wasco in conservative Sherman County, Wyden said questions about age are “fair game for debate” but that he is still up to the job and the fight against Republican President Donald Trump’s policies.
“I believe you ought to be held accountable,” he told The Associated Press in an interview. “But I think that the Founding Fathers wanted a results-oriented, commonsense approach to government, and that’s what I’m trying to do. And I’ve got the energy.”
Calls for a new generation of leaders
Many Democrats have lingering anguish about Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second White House term despite persistent concerns about whether he was up to the job at age 81. He dropped out in July 2024 and Trump went on to defeat then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I’ve consistently called for all elected officials over the age of 70 to make this their final term — to step down with dignity and make room for the next generation of leaders,” said Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something, a group that supports progressive young candidates.
Many Democrats feel Biden stepped withdrew too late and cost the party the presidency. Multiple Democratic senators have announced this year that they won’t seek reelection, including 80-year-old Dick Durbin of Illinois. Durbin’s career in Congress began in 1983, two years after Wyden joined the House.
Litman said she hopes another Democrat emerges to challenge Wyden.
“I think competitive primaries in particular are how we as a party decide what we believe,” she said.
‘Every Oregonian counts’
Wyden continues to travel across his state engaging with voters of all political stripes. The Wasco town hall was the 23rd he has held this year, and the 1,125th town hall of his career. Some 20 people gathered at a former grade school nestled among wheat fields and wind turbines.
“Every Oregonian counts, no matter where they live,” Wyden told them.
As other Democrats grapple over strategy, the senator says the old-school town hall tradition has become a key communication tool in an era of deepening division.
“I believe the town meetings are more important now than ever, because they allow for an opportunity in a community to chip away at some of the polarization and the mistrust,” he told the AP.
That stands in contrast to congressional Republicans, who in recent months have largely avoided town hall meetings, where they often face protesters. The National Republican Campaign Committee recently encouraged GOP lawmakers to promote the new tax breaks and spending cuts law, but in smaller settings they can control.
A civil exchange
Some 75% of Sherman County’s voters cast ballots for Trump last November, and Wyden hasn’t carried the county of about 2,000 people since 2004. Yet the small town hall gathering stood out for its civility, compared with the raucous crowds faced recently by other members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans.
Meeting with a small group of Democrats, Republicans and independents in Wasco, Wyden talked at length about health care, trade and democracy. While some pressed Wyden, they waited to be called on and thanked him for coming.
Charlie Hogue, 71, asked a question that went to the heart of Democratic concerns that leaders aren’t pushing back hard enough against Trump.
“I thought we had checks and balances in this country, and I’m beginning to lose hope because the current administration ignores court orders,” he said. “So are the Democrats planning to just message for the next elections … or do you have a plan?”
Wyden cited examples of how he had challenged Trump: a recent trip to Canada, where the senator spoke with the prime minister about trade, and discussions with Oregon wheat farmers about tariffs.
T.L. Fassbender, 76, wondered why it seems that Democrats support immigrants who entered the country illegally.
Wyden responded that he believed the immigration system was “broken” and noted that a bipartisan border bill collapsed in the Senate last year after then-candidate Trump came out against it.
In the ensuing exchange, Fassbender said he didn’t think Wyden had answered his question, so the senator tried again.
“If somebody has committed a crime, for example, I don’t think that should be something that is protected as part of legislation,” Wyden said. “What’s been going on, unfortunately, is we have some government agencies coming and swooping up people who’ve done nothing wrong.”
When immigration came up again later, Wyden noted that his parents were fleeing Nazi Germany when they came to the United States.
“I believe that legal immigration makes our country better and stronger,” he said.
Pursuing the Epstein records
Recently, Wyden has emerged as a leading Democratic voice in pressing for more information on the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. He isn’t new to the effort, which has become a political crisis for Trump.
The president’s supporters are angry that his administration didn’t keep promises to release records from the investigation into the wealthy financier’s exploitation of underage girls for sex. The Justice Department and FBI recently said there was no Epstein “client list,” walking back a notion that the administration had previously promoted.
As the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Wyden had been pressing for Epstein’s financial records long before the scandal resurfaced.
“We spent three years following the money,” he told the AP after the Wasco town hall. “And we’re going to stay at it until the facts come out.”
Wyden said Democrats agonizing over low voter morale and party strategy should hold more meetings in conservative areas, where they might learn something from the people they represent.
“The old saying is, ‘most of life is just showing up,’” he said. “But it’s especially important in government because there is a sense that this is rigged.”
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