Analysts have speculated that Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken’s candidacy for Oregon’s fourth Congressional District is timed to coincide with a possible gubernatorial bid by Rep. Peter DeFazio, its current occupant.
Leiken, the Republican challenger, said his focus is now on his own campaign, not on against whom he will run. “Right now, I’m not really thinking of who they appoint on the Democratic side,” he said Thursday.
If DeFazio decides to run, Leiken will face a politician whom a recent study by a conservative polling firm called the most popular of the likely candidates for state governor. Leiken has said in previous interviews that the national Democratic party is likely to throw its full backing behind his opponent.
However, Leiken said he is optimistic despite his possible opponent’s popularity and resources.
“If I didn’t think I had a chance at all, I wouldn’t waste my time,” he said.
Leiken said attempting to right the nation’s economy would be his “priority number one” if he was elected, and he would also attempt to address health care and the state’s dependence on timber.
He confessed to a limited grasp of current issues in national politics – Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation, Barack Obama’s Cairo speech and the controversy over releasing photos from Abu Ghraib prison – because he said he is paying attention to “talking to people in the district and really listening to their needs.”
There is little open speculation about who might run as a Democrat in DeFazio’s place if he does decide to run for governor.
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Springfield mayor’s Congress run clashes
Daily Emerald
June 4, 2009
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