One Local Politician Who Says David Wu Should Step Aside

The political musings of a local elected official about a federal lawmaker's future in Congress aren't automatically newsworthy.

But having gone on the record today to say U.S. Rep. David Wu should not run again, Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman became the first, if not the only, local elected leader to openly criticize Wu.

Saltzman, a fellow Democrat who lives in Wu's district, says he has no interest in the job for himself. But Saltzman says he hopes someone else will run in the 2012 Democratic primary against Wu, a seven-term lawmaker from Oregon's 1st Congressional District whose re-electability remains in question.

"Wu has been there quite a while and he hasn't achieved the same upward mobility [as other representatives,]" Saltzman says. "I want someone else to run."

Now for a game of six degrees of separation, or five degrees as the case may be: Saltzman was a staffer long ago for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) when Wyden was a congressman. Wyden's former chief of staff is Josh Kardon, who recently left Wyden's office to start a Portland-based political consulting firm. Kardon works with veteran campaign manager Jake Weigler at that firm, Grant Park Strategies.

And yesterday WW reported that Weigler had recently signed on as Brad Avakian's political adviser, strongly suggesting Avakian is about to announce his campaign against Wu for the Democratic nomination in the primary next year.

WWeek 2015