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OR-04: Leiken Hits the Eject Button

by: James L.

Thu Mar 04, 2010 at 10:08 AM EST


Sid the Kid, we hardly knew ye:

Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken announced Wednesday that he will run in May for the Lane County Board of Commissioners, ending his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio in the 4th Congressional District.

Leiken said "Springfield is where my heart is" and that he can be more effective as the city's representative on the five-person county board. The 10-year mayor will rely on name recognition in hopes of separating himself from a crowded ballot that includes two other members of the City Council.

Initially touted by the NRCC as the candidate who would be capable of giving longtime Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio the race of his life, Leiken's candidacy more or less blew up on the launching pad. Unfortunately for Leiken, his campaign never seemed to get past lingering questions regarding money that was funneled to his own mother for the listed purpose of polling. Leiken ended up having to pay $2500 in fines over the bogus poll. Better luck next time!
James L. :: OR-04: Leiken Hits the Eject Button
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OR-04: Leiken Hits the Eject Button | 28 comments
In fact - probably a reasonable decision
Chances to beat DeFazio were minimal even without that allegations. At the same time he is not among the craziest politicians i am aware of, and could, theoretically, being good member of the Board. So, really, good luck!
it's been a good recruiting year for the GOP
but I still think many of their candidates are over-hyped.
See Roby, Martha n/t


34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
[ Parent ]
See Guinta, Frank n/t


26, Male, Democrat, TX-26
[ Parent ]
Barfighting Frankie
actually polled 10 points ahead of Shea-Porter in that UNH poll.  Oh wait, it's a UNH poll... but still...

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
[ Parent ]
How recent was that?
n/t

Male, 23, DC-At Large
[ Parent ]
February 9
http://www.nowhampshire.com/20...

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
[ Parent ]
Porter was sportin similar numbers in 2008
We know how that rematch turned out.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26
[ Parent ]
What, no pun in the title?
Or was there one and I just missed it?

I probably would have gone with "Leiken Not Lovin' It", or some such derivative.

Male, 23, DC-At Large

Wait really?
I always thought his name rhymed with "taken"

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Maybe it does
I just assumed the 'ei' was pronounced 'eye'. Unsurprisingly, I've never heard his name spoken aloud.

Male, 23, DC-At Large
[ Parent ]
You are correct, it's pronounced 'eye'
So "Leiken Not Lovin' It" is very good. Or a bit better: Leiken Not Liking It.
[ Parent ]
Son
This ain't the Hotline!
[ Parent ]
DeFazio amazes me
how he can be such a progressive leader - and be so doggone safe - in a D+2 district

And he probably has just about the most difficult commute of any congressman in the continental US.

I don't know about the commute part
Eugene does have an airport with multiple commercial airlines servicing it.  There's no direct flights to National, but you can get there with one stop.

28, Unenrolled, MA-08
[ Parent ]
I think what
DeFazio does is fly nonstop into Portland and then drive to Eugene, which despite the two hour drive is probably quicker than suffering through a layover somewhere like Denver. I think that's the case because when DeFazio had his little meltdown with the TSA, it was at PDX. It's pretty well known the commute is his least favorite part of the job, and that was one of the main motivating factors when he was considering the governor's race. (In fact, he may well still be considering the governor's race, although the time to do something about it would have been months ago.)
[ Parent ]
That:
Was what I was just going to say, Crisitunity. I read somewhere that DeFazio had a bit of a run-in with the TSA at Portland in March of last year. It was in The Oregonian, I believe.
[ Parent ]
What was the nature of his run-in?
Do either of you remember?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Was it even a run-in?
DeFazio denies the allegation; he was traveling with Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) at the time, ref http://www.oregonlive.com/poli...

DeFazio told The Oregonian that he did not try to hinder the screening. He was screened at Eugene Airport, flew to Portland and then was pulled out of a passenger line boarding a flight to Washington, D.C.

DeFazio, from Springfield, said he complied with the TSA request and took his bag to a screener who began going through it.

"I did not say, 'Do you know who I am,' or 'You can't do this' or whatever," he said. "I went over there, I put my bag down and I said, 'You know, this is stupid. You know, I helped to create the TSA. You know, I'm an expert on security.' ... I didn't say, 'You can't look through my bag.' I didn't ask for any special privilege."

BTW, this suggests DeFazio first flies in from Eugene to PDX.

A quick check of Kayak confirms no non-stops between PDX and DCA.

So DeFazio's commute to DC includes three planes each way. Does anyone else's commute -

in the continental US

include three flights each way?

[ Parent ]
Well, I was assuming
he flew into Dulles. (Which you can do nonstop on United, right?) Although I'm not sure what's worse, two hours of layover or two hours on the Dulles Toll Road.  
[ Parent ]
Worse commutes
Alaska and Hawaii are obvious ones.

Good luck getting a direct flight from Wyoming to DC. The Dakotas and Vermont might have the same problem, but of course they are closer.

[ Parent ]
Re: Alaska and Hawai'i
he did say continental US. but yes. I wonder which congresscritter has the longest commute?

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Well:
If I had to guess, I would say it would be a toss-up between Don Young of Alaska and Doc Hastings of Washington state. I mean, to get to Young's small hometown of Fort Yukon, just above the Arctic Circle, you'd first have to fly to Seattle, then fly up to Anchorage, hop on another plane to Fairbanks, and/or then get on one of those single-propeller planes to reach Fort Yukon. That's far! As for Mr. Hastings, I can't think of any major airport near his hometown of Pasco, which is in the middle of nowhere. I'm guessing he'd have to fly into Spokane.

On the other hand, members with the shortest commutes include the following: Jim Moran (Arlington, VA), Gerry Connolly (Fairfax, VA), Frank Wolf (Vienna, VA), Chris Van Hollen (Kensington, MD), and Donna Edwards (Fort Washington, MD). Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner also have very short commutes since they both live in Alexandria.

[ Parent ]
Johnny:
Going back to your previous post, flying from DC to Vermont isn't difficult at all - I should know, since I'm a native of VT. If you live in the Burlington area, there are direct flights to DC and back from Burlington International Airport. However, if you live in southwestern VT (where I grew up) or the southeastern part, you'd have to fly into Albany Airport in NY or Bradley Airport in CT, respectively.

Whenever I go home to visit my parents I always fly into Albany Airport, and then make the drive east to the house. It's only a 45-minute drive. From Bradley to Brattleboro, VT is about an hour and a half.

[ Parent ]
I'd bet good money there are lots of nonstop flights from DC airports to Anchorage
Anchorage is a big stop on Polar Circle routes from the East Coast to East Asia.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Used to be true
Before the 747-400 came out in the late '80s, which can easily bypass ANC from the East Coast to most East Asian cities.

A quick check of Kayak suggests 0 non-stop flights between ANC and DCA or IAD.

[ Parent ]
I'm very surprised
and obviously behind the times.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
You're wrong about Vermont, FWIW
US Airways has direct flights from BTV to DCA.  Burlington has air traffic greater than its population would suggest because it is close enough to Montreal that many Montrealers down for the cheaper domestic fares.

28, Unenrolled, MA-08
[ Parent ]
OR-04: Leiken Hits the Eject Button | 28 comments

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