U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is scheduled to return to Columbia County, Oregon, for an in-person, open-to-all town hall on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, with the event listed for 11 a.m. at the Scappoose High School Auditorium.

While the town hall is across the river from Cowlitz County, it routinely draws residents from Southwest Washington—especially Longview and Kelso—because Columbia County communities like Rainier, St. Helens, and Scappoose are part of the same daily news and commuting orbit along the I-5/US-30 corridor.

Wyden’s office announced the Columbia County stop as part of a larger series of town halls held around Oregon from Jan. 16–24. In a Jan. 8 announcement, Wyden’s office described the meetings as “open-to-all” and noted the senator’s long-running pledge to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon’s 36 counties.

Wyden’s Columbia County town hall comes as the Oregon delegation continues to face constituent pressure on federal pocketbook issues that also hit Cowlitz County—health care costs, housing pressures, and jobs tied to regional supply chains that run through the Lower Columbia.

What we know about the Columbia County town hall

  • When: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
  • Where: Scappoose High School Auditorium, Scappoose, Oregon
  • Format: Open-to-all, in-person town hall

Wyden’s office has previously used standard security rules at these events, including restrictions on backpacks and large bags, and many town halls around the region have seen venues reach capacity. Attendees planning to travel from Cowlitz County should consider arriving early.

Local context: why this matters in the Lower Columbia

For Longview and Kelso residents, federal decisions often land locally in the form of grant funding, public health and hospital reimbursement rules, transportation priorities, and environmental enforcement along the Columbia River system. Even when a lawmaker represents Oregon, the policy spillover is shared—particularly in a cross-border region where families, labor markets, and commerce move daily between Cowlitz and Columbia counties.

Wyden is not Washington state’s senator, but town halls like this can still be a meaningful venue for residents in the Lower Columbia region to hear directly from federal decision-makers and ask questions about regional impacts—from river and port issues to trade and health care.

Sources

Correction note: A circulating blurb about Wyden “returning” to Columbia County referenced a “last week’s town hall.” Wyden’s published schedule lists the Columbia County town hall for Jan. 24, 2026; we did not find an official record of a Wyden Columbia County town hall earlier in January.