Oregon: GOP Lands Top Recruit to Run Against DeFazio

After being courted by national Republican leaders for several weeks, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken (R) has decided to run for the 4th district seat now held by 12-term Rep. Peter DeFazio (D).

Leiken, a 47-year-old businessman who has run the district’s second-largest city since 2000, submitted the paperwork to the Federal Election Commission to create his candidacy on Monday. A formal announcement will come in early summer, after the city’s budget process is complete…

But in an interview Monday, Leiken said voters in the economically depressed district are ready for change.

“I’m very solutions-oriented,” he said. “That’s what people are looking for.”

And national Republicans believe Leiken has a strong record on economic development issues and the kind of political profile that can appeal to independent voters who are turned off by more seasoned officeholders. Leiken’s family was in the timber industry, and he has also worked as an executive of a local bank and as a business consultant.

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