OR-5: Dem candidate declares

OR-5 is one of the few Democratic House vacancies this cycle that will be closely contested by Republicans, as the Democratic incumbent who is retiring, Darlene Hooley, has typically won about 55-45 or tighter since she first won the seat in 1996.

With Darlene’s abrupt announcement of her retirement this month and the primary on May 20, the clock has been ticking on who will be the Democratic candidate to declare for the race, until now: State Sen. Kurt Schrader.

Sen. Schrader is a veterinarian and farmer who lives in an exurb of Portland, Canby, and who has been active in county in state politics for decades, having served on numerous county commissions and farm boards prior to becoming a state legislator in 1996. Notably, his wife is also prominent in politics as a county commissioner and it was uncertain until today which one would run for this seat.

More on Kurt Schrader:

http://www.leg.state.or.us/sch… and

http://dkosopedia.com/wiki/Kur…

Today, he announced that he would be running for OR-5, a mixed rural/suburban/urban district that runs from a sliver of downtown Portland to include much rural farmland and a part of the coast, along with the state capital Salem:

http://www.blueoregon.com/2008…

Personally, I believe he is a pretty good fit for this district, given his strong constituency in the Portland exurbs/suburbs while having obvious professional connections to the rural interests.  

I don’t know Schrader well, but he appears to be a fairly good Democrat, not exceptionally progressive but certainly someone we could be happy with in this swing district and would probably represent a wash with Hooley. Also, at 57 years of age, he should be good for ten years at least in this seat if (once) he wins, especially with the Portland suburbs trending increasingly Democratic of late. And lastly, Schrader is mid-term in his Oregon State Senate seat, so if he were to lose, he would maintain his seat, which would likely be hotly contested too, although the Democrats have a sizable (18-12) advantage in the State Senate.

His opponents include:

Mike Erickson (declared), a milquetoast business-owner and multimillionaire who was defeated handily by Hooley last time 54-43 during his first foray into politics.

Kevin Mannix (all-but-declared), the odious former Oregon GOP chair who has lost multiple statewide races for Governor (in the general and primary) and Attorney General (2x) after having defected from the Democratic Party as a state legislator in 1997. He has significant name recognition in the district as he represented part of it until 2000 as a state legislator, and from his statewide races, but most notably of late he has been the author of multiple contentious conservative ballot measures that have become a gravy train for him.

A bloody primary is expected between Erickson and Mannix, as the former can spend tons of his own dough and ran last time, whereas Mannix has more Republican establishment support.

Schrader is the first and probably only Democrat to declare in this race as several other likely candidates have declined to run and he should be able to begin accumulating a sizable warchest before facing off against the Republican nominee after the May 20 primary. As such, this could be a very good chance at a hold for the Democrats while being a close enough district to get the NRCC to spend some scarce resources, though it is by no means a gimme—- it will take a lot of work to hold this race against either candidate, but in a Presidential year, this should be a toss-up to lean-Dem seat.

N.B. As of yet, I can not find a campaign website for Schrader.

Crossposted at dKos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…