Springfield, Ore., Mayor Sid Leiken has announced he will run for the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon’s fourth district, which contains Eugene and Springfield. The seat he’s after is currently occupied by the popular Peter DeFazio, so it seems at first that he faces a difficult race.
However, analysts theorize that the move is calculated to coincide with a DeFazio run for Oregon governor. Political pollsters say the U.S. Representative has the popularity to get to Mahonia Hall. Leiken couldn’t beat DeFazio, the thinking goes, but DeFazio might not run.
This is also interesting because of the following fabulously backhanded comments from DeFazio, which I’ve cribbed off of BlueOregon:
Sid is a nice guy and a step up from the Republican’s last highly touted recruit. I look forward to him continuing his good service as my hometown mayor for the next four years