By Moira Warburton

(Reuters) – Kurt Schrader from Oregon, a moderate U.S. senator, was defeated by Jamie McLeod Skinner as his primary challenger. He had at times upset fellow Democrats when he opposed pieces of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

McLeod Skinner won the election on Friday, according to the Associated Press. He was a seven-term incumbent who was backed by Biden.

Nancy Pelosi (US House Speaker) stated that Schrader had been an independent and valued voice in her statement congratulating McLeod Skinner.

McLeod Skinner welcomed McLeod Skinner’s victory via a Twitter post (NYSE:), stating that “Oregonians never gave up on believing they can protect their families, climate, and civil rights.”

This was just one of many nominating contests before the Nov. 8, general election, in which left-leaning members of the Democratic Party seek to expel moderate opponents from the House of Representatives.

According to independent forecasters, the House district Schrader in Oregon is Democratic.

He caused a stir among some Democrats back at home by calling the impeachment of former President Donald Trump in 2021 “lynching”, voted against Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan, and advocated for the reduction of the president’s Build Back Better social spending bill which was ultimately rejected in the Senate.

Biden supported Schrader for the eighth, two-year term, even though he said in April, “We don’t always disagree, but when that has really mattered, Kurt has been there to me.”

Schrader was a farmer and veterinary who was elected first to the House in 2008. The representatives for Schrader could not immediately be reached for comment.

McLeod Skinner is a prominent U.S. progressive. It was a rare move by Senator Elizabeth Warren and the four local Democratic party groups in the four counties that make up 90% of the district.

McLeod Skinner attacked Schrader over his voting record and accused him of voting against Democratic priorities.