BEND, Ore. – At the close of her campaign’s TV ad for re-election to a second House term, someone shouts off-screen at Rep. Janelle Bynum: “Give ‘em hell, Janelle!”

“I always do,” Bynum says to the camera, with a smile.

That came to mind more than once during the Democrat's feisty, fairly combative debate Wednesday evening with Republican challenger and Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, aired live on KTVZ.

But never more so when, just over halfway through the hour-long debate, there was quite an exchange of words, not the first or last time Bynum interrupted Adair with a remark on this night.

The testy exchange began when Bynum said she’s been “a supporter of public safety and will continue to be, as the granddaughter of a police officer.”

Adair, who frequently said crime has worsened in the state rankings, replied: “I don’t have any police officers in my immediate family, but I’m not sure that’s what you were saying when you were talking about Portland, and defunding the police.”

“I did not!” Bynum interjected.

“Oh good - glad to know that you didn’t say that,” Adair responded, continuing to press the state’s falling ranking. (Oregon fell to 46th nationally in public safety, according to a report by the Common Sense Institute Oregon.)

“You act like I did the crime!” Bynum continued. “Well, it was probably more people like you – white-collar crime!”

Adair asked again why crime had risen over the past 10 years, adding, “It’s really a tragedy.”

Bynum pressed on, speaking over Adair to ask:

“Do you think black people do all the crime?”

“I know they don’t,” Adair replied.

At this point, debate Moderator Lee Anderson stepped in: “So let’s keep this civil and allow each candidate to have her time.”

It was that kind of night.

Adair introduced herself in her opening statement as an Oregon native, raised on a Heppner cattle ranch and talked of her 40-year marriage to a retired ENT doctor and three sons, wrapping up eight years as county commissioner.

“I see that Congress really needs someone with my Oregon native experience,” (later noting that Bynum is a “D.C. native.”)

“Oregon kids actually have tested last in the nation,” she said. “We’ve fallen down so much the last couple of years. I’ve lost friends. We’ve lost businesses. We’ve lost families that have all moved out of state because of policies that my opponent has voted for.”

“As a Deschutes County commissioner, I get something done. I’ve worked incredibly hard. We have a Veterans Village that I’m so proud of. We’ve had over 50 veterans that have actually moved on to permanent housing.”

Bynum introduced herself as “a mother of four, a business woman and an electrical engineer. We are here tonight because this is a serious matter, and I have an un-serious opponent.” She also spoke of bringing back over $200 million to the Fifth District – “I have the receipts.”

“It is important for you to know that this election is a serious matter, as we counter the Trump administration and his crazy policies that have no beginning and no end. It is important that you know that I will continue to roll up my sleeves and give Washington hell.”

The congresswoman says she has a bill on the president’s desk to ensure that small businesses have access to capital. She touted having over 25 town halls and answered over 100,000 emails.

Adair said of her first priorities when she gets to Congress is to make permanent the tax breaks – no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security – that are due to expire in two years.

“Oregonians are suffering right now,” she said. “We have the second-highest taxes in the nation. You can’t make this up.”

But Bynum said of Adair: “I believe, and I think it’s proven, that she would just be a rubber stamp for Trump’s policies.”

Adair replied: “I think that Oregonians, and especially people in Deschutes County, know that I am not a rubber stamp. I actually will study both sides of the issue, and I will vote appropriately.”

Bynum said she’s known for working across the aisle and has passed three bills in her first term. “I’m always looking for ways in which I can agree with the other side.”

But soon, on the attack again, she said of the administration, “They will buy bombs, but they won’t make sure that children have food to eat. It is, in my opinion, cruel, unnecessary and short-sighted.”

Despite being in the top 10 of school funding, Adair said, “We have the least to show for it.”

“I want to go back to 2019, and I want to go back department by department,” she said. “As someone who passed the accounting exam without a calculator, I believe that that is something that needs to be done. Americans are being saddled with a horrible debt, and we have got to get our spending under control.”

Adair said her campaign team looked up Bynum’s claim of bringing $200 million back to the district, “and we could only come up with $160 (million). So there’s a $40 million –”

Bynum interrupted: “She can’t even speak in a straight sentence, so I don’t know if I trust their work, either.”

Among other issues during the debate was how to proceed after Oregon’s wildfire year, with a record 2.5 million acres burned.

Bynum: 'We can innovate our way out of problems, instead of clear-cutting from here to Jesus'

At one point, when asked about the Forest Service seeking to remove “Roadless Rule” restrictions, Adair said she’s a big fan of a robotic fuels-reduction device called the BurnBot. In south county a fire was started, and because of that BurnBot work, we could get that fire out immediately.”

Bynum said she voted against rescinding the Roadless Rule: “I believe that the president and his administration just wants to come in and clear-cut. … As an engineer, I believe that we can innovate our way out of problems, instead of clear-cutting from here to Jesus.”

Adair disputed the clear-cut criticism: “No, they’re not going to clear-cut. There is so much growth on a sustainable basis.”

Bynum fired back, noting that the president is “cutting trees down in D.C. as we speak. … That man doesn’t give a damn about a tree. So would I ever approve him being in charge of cutting trees down in our forest without our approval and oversight. That man’s cutting from here to tomorrow. No.”

Adair praised the 1,200 firefighters on Sisters-area fires, but more than once spoke of Crook County not having enough firefighters when summer storms peppered the region with lightning: “There was like 20 people for the fires when it first happened. Somebody didn’t want to stop it. It was on private land, and it took off. “

Bynum said: “The president and his DOGE stuff, they cut firefighting resources, and my opponent would have gone right along with them, saying, ‘Yeah, we need to cut the deficit. We need to cut this.’ But then they would have cut the very things that we need. She also called “unthinkable” the immigration raids that happened on the fire line.

“Like, are you serious about the fires, or you just want to have a show, and you just want to be cool? And then you were picking up people who were Native American – couldn’t even get the right people. So don’t tell me you’re serious about prevention, preparedness and coordination, when you can’t even do what’s right with what you have. This was an abomination, and it affected firefighting abilities across the country.”

When the topic turned to healthcare, Bynum said she “just signed on to be a co-sponsor of Medicare for All, which has been extraordinarily popular with the American people.”

But Adair said: “Medicare for All will be healthcare for none. … (and) will just bring more taxes on top of my people that are working families and struggling. That’s not my way.”

When KTVZ Political Reporter Spencer Sacks noted that Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All proposal is estimated to cost $32.6 trillion over a 10-year period: “How do we pay for that when our debts already $40 trillion as of now?”

Bynum said: “We are already paying for it. I personally am paying $30,000 for my family to have medical insurance.”

And when closing statements came, the congresswoman returned to that familiar them at the end: “Every week when I go to D.C. and get off the plane, I say, ‘Mr. Speaker,’ and I am demanding the very best on the half of Oregonians. When I get back to D.C., I’ll be ready to roll my sleeves up and give them hell.”

Adair opened by saying: “I want to remind you that I am the native Oregonian. My opponent is native D.C., and that is why she’s so comfortable. Over half of her (campaign) funding has come from D.C. and Massachusetts.”

“And in the last 10 years that she’s been in office, we have gone down. … So excuse me. That’s your economy. You can feel it every day. I talk to people. People are struggling.”