From The Oregonian:
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said in an interview today that he has decided not to challenge Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.DeFazio had been the top choice of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, after a DSCC-commissioned poll showed him ahead of Smith. But the 11-term Congressman chairs a powerful House Transportation subcommittee responsible for doling out hundreds of billions of dollars of highway funding.
[…]
“I just did not feel that becoming a junior member of the Senate was going to allow me to serve as well and as effectively, particularly in the short term, as my current position,” DeFazio said.
“This was not an easy decision,” DeFazio said. “You don’t get a poll that shows you’re ahead of an incumbent senator and generous offers of support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and just blow it off. It was a long and serious deliberation on my part.”
With the only Democratic names in the race being businessman Ty Pettit and attorney Steve Novick, all eyes now turn to 3rd District Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Sources tell me that Blumenauer will likely pursue the nomination, but we’ll have to wait and see.
(Hat-tip to hubbird.)
Race Tracker: OR-Sen