Miles J. Jackson, II

Attorney General John Kroger continues to bring in major money, assumedly for his re-election in 2012 although no campaign web site could be found, www.johnkroger.

Former Republican Gubernatorial candidate and Redmond resident Bill Sizemore, is finally serving some time behind bars for felony tax evasion. Sizemore, who spent 15 years as the king of Oregon initiatives including the infamous Ballot Measure 47, was sentenced to 30 days.

David Wu, Chinese Cartoon Villain and Special Elections
Congressman David Wu finally resigned on Wednesday of this week sparking late night comedy spoofs on Jay Leno and this special Chinese cartoon version of the story (1:15) ending with the words “theTaiwan Nightmare has come to an end.” The special election dates to fill his seat have been set by Governor Kitzhaber with the primary on November 8 and the General election on January 31,, 2012.

Will it matter to Central Oregon who Portland’s next Mayor is? Maybe not, but to keep our readers current, the incumbent Sam Adams has had some PR difficulties since taking office centered around the fact he lied about having an affair with a young man before his 18th birthday during Adams’ first campaign. In 2009, Time magazine asked, “Can Portland’s Gay Mayor Survive a Scandal?” We will see.  Considering he has only raised $40 this year, it’s not looking too promising.
Eileen Brady the co-founder of the Portland-based New Seasons Market has announced her candidacy against Sam and seems to be gaining momentum fast with over $100,000 raised and an announcement last week she has been endorsed by Emily’s List, a national PAC that supports women candidates. But New Seasons is not a union shop and that could hurt her if unions decide to support Sam or someone else.
Jefferson Smith (D-Portland), 38, has confirmed to the Willamette Week that he is also considering a run.  While there is no doubt his background as founder of the Bus Project (progressive young Portlanders who get on a bus to knock on doors in more conservative areas) and as instigator of the Oregon Legislative “Rick Roll”, he could ignite an exciting campaign, some doubt he has the management experience to run a city the size of Portland (How ‘bout Bend Jefferson?).

It almost feels like a political holiday with all the excitement in the air among politicos around Wu’s resignation. Now we have a whole new perspective to speculate.

Obviously the biggest political news in the state today is the ongoing saga of U.S.