Candidates line up to challenge U.S. Sen. Wyden
From our weekly issue dated March 10, 2010
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) (IVN photo)
A few weeks ago, it appeared that no one was willing to challenge U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) for his seat in the Nov. 2 election.
However, candidates from several parties have begun coming out of the woodwork to face up to the popular incumbent.
Contenders include Loren Hooker, a cattle farmer from Glendale. He spoke during the Thursday, March 4 meeting of the Josephine County Chapter of Americans for Prosperity at a restaurant in Grants Pass.
Hooker said that he became a registered Democrat in 2008 as part of ?Operation Chaos,? an effort launched by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh to prolong that party?s presidential primary. He added that he never got around to changing his registration.
Battles with state agencies regarding the use of his land have helped shape Hooker?s views, he said.
?I?m very much concerned about natural resource issues,? he said.
He added that he was a Libertarian for many years, and considers himself ?very much a fiscal conservative.?
Holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution, Hooker characterized that document as the ?blueprint for everything we do in this country.? The nation?s problems became worse when its leaders started turning away from the Constitution, Hooker said.
Wyden, he said, brags about bringing federal subsidies back to Oregon counties.
?He thinks that?s a good thing,? he said. ?I don?t.?
The candidate said that such policies essentially make counties welfare clients of the federal government.
Also running against Wyden is Republican John Huffman.
In 1973, Huffman began teaching law classes at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. From 1994 to 2006, he worked as that law school?s dean. Huffman stepped down to continue teaching as the Erskine Wood Sr. Professor of Law.
Huffman officially announced his candidacy Thursday, March 4 at the Portland headquarters of Halton Co., which specializes in heavy equipment.
Bend businessman Sam Carpenter will face Huffman in the May 18 primary election for the Republican nomination.
A pair of third party candidates has joined the effort to unseat Wyden. Marc Delphine has announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party. He is the first openly homosexual man to run for the U.S. Senate in Oregon.
On Saturday, March 6, Dr. Rick Staggenborg won the Pacific Green Party?s nomination for the Senate seat during a convention in Corvallis.
According to a Monday, March 8 press release, Staggenborg was a psychiatrist at the Bandon Veteran?s Administration Clinic until recently. He holds degrees in biology, psychology and medicine, and is a veteran, a member of Physicians for a National Health Program and the National Executive Committee of Alliance for Democracy and the founder of Soldiers for Peace International.
Staggenborg promised that if elected, he would introduce a Constitutional amendment to abolish ?corporate personhood.?
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