This marginal district could be a possible pickup for the GOP in November. From CQ Politics-
Democratic officials have an urgent candidate recruiting job on their hands in Oregon's 5th District. That's because Thursday's surprise announcement by Democratic Rep. Darlene Hooley -- that she will retire rather than seek a seventh House term -- suddenly turned the politically competitive district into one of the national Republican Party's top House takeover targets this year.One of the Democrati seats most vulnerable in 2008 is the Florida 16th. Won by Tim Mahoney after the resignation of Republican Mark Foley. I predicted at the end of 2007 the GOP would win back that seat.
The Democrats won't have to wait long, though, to find out whether they will have to work too hard to find a qualified candidate to defend the seat as two top potential candidates already are mulling the idea of running. Paul Evans, a former mayor of Monmouth, and Clackamas County Commissioner Martha Schrader confirmed to CQ Politics they will announce early next week whether they will enter the race.Maintaining a hold on the Oregon 5th isn't an easy job as seen by the four different congress people who held the seat between 1990 and 1996. This is one of the most removed districts travel wise from Washington DC. 2,500 miles across the country, often needing two connections to get there, and then you still have a bit of a drive to most of the district(A very small part of the 5th is in southern part the Portland Metro area. Portland's airport however is on the east side of the city. Salem Oregon is probably the political center of this district.). Either a Democrat or Republican who wants to win and then hold this seat better be prepared to work their butt off. No lazy politicians need apply.Schrader noted that if she makes the move to run for Congress, she'll be giving up running unopposed for re-election in Clackamas -- a populous county, part of which is in the northern part of the 5th District -- for a "nationally targeted" race.
Republicans, meanwhile, are touting the prospects of Mike Erickson, a transportation industry executive who entered this year's contest seeking a rematch of his largely self-funded 2006 challenge to Hooley, and now finds himself in an open-seat race.
The 5th District encompasses the state capital of Salem, a portion of metro Portland and a substantial chunk of rural territory, a mix that tends to produce competitive partisan battles. President Bush eked out a 1 percentage-point margin in the district over Democrat John Kerry in 2004.
With Hooley stepping aside, it is not immediately clear whether the Democrats' hold on this swing district is as certain. CQ Politics has changed its rating on her race to No Clear Favorite from Democrat Favored.
Hooley, a teacher, first won her seat in 1996 at age 57 when she defeated one-term Republican Rep. Jim Bunn.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
Congress, Oregon, States
