Xicha Brewing livid after GOP booking

A Salem brewery got dragged into Oregon campaign politics this week, and the owners say it happened without real consent. Xicha Brewing — a Latino-owned brewery that leans hard into community events and cultural programming — discovered that Republican candidates were advertising a Cinco de Mayo campaign stop at its North Salem taproom. The owners say the booking was made under vague terms, not as a partisan event. Once the promotion started circulating, backlash landed on the brewery almost immediately. (statesmanjournal.com) ### What actually happened? The event was set for Monday, May 5, at Xicha Brewing. Promotions tied it to Rep. Ed Diehl, a Scio Republican running for Oregon governor, and Dan Farrington, a Republican running for House District 17. But Xicha said it had only accepted a(statesmanjournal.com)ve approval to host the event there and canceled it. (statesmanjournal.com) ### Why were the owners so angry? Because from their point of view, this was not just a scheduling mix-up. Maggie Antunez, who owns Xicha with Ricardo Antunez, said the brewery started getting negative messages online before staff even understood why. The business was(statesmanjournal.com)e — unwanted political branding attached to the business before the owners could stop it. (salemreporter.com) ### What did Xicha say? Xicha posted publicly that an Oregon representative was promoting an event at its space “without our knowledge or approval.” That wording matters. The brewery was not saying it dislikes private events in general. It was saying the event being marketed to th(salemreporter.com)ng and the public sees another, the venue eats the reputational fallout. (salemreporter.com) ### What did the candidates say? The Republican side described the problem as a miscommunication. Coverage in Salem said the event did not end up happening at Xicha and was moved to a nearby location instead. That narrows the factual dispute a bit. This was not a showdown inside the taproom. The clash happened before the event, once the campaign promotion became public and the brewery objected. (statesmanjournal.com) ### Why does Cinco de Mayo make this more explosive? Because the symbolism is obvious. Xicha brands itself as a Latine brewery and regularly hosts events tied to Latino culture and community. So a Republican campaign stop promoted on Cinco de Mayo at that venue was al(statesmanjournal.com). (youroregonnews.com) ### Is this really about venue rules? Partly — but it is also about trust. Private venues can host political events, reject them, or set conditions for them. The catch is that those decisions only work if the venue knows what it is agreeing to. Xicha’s complaint is basically that informed consent never happened, and the internet punished the business before it had a chance to clarify. (statesmanjournal.com) ### Why is this landing now? Timing. Oregon’s primary is on May 19, so campaigns are scrambling for visibility. Diehl is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, and local candidates are trying to maximize every stop. That does not prove bad intent by itself. But it does explain why a disputed booking at a neighborhood brewery turned into a statewide political story fast. (statesmanjournal.com) ### Bottom line? This was a small event that blew up because the venue, the holiday, and the politics all collided at once. Xicha is saying the problem was never just who showed up — it was being publicly attached to a partisan event it says it never knowingly agreed to host. (salemreporter.com)