After a series of run-ins with his own party, it looks like Rep. Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley), will generate a primary opponent for himself.

In today's print edition, former Labor Commissioner Mary Wendy Roberts says she's considering a challenge and so, WW has learned, is Jeff Reardon, a teacher at David Douglas High School.

Schaufler has been a controversial figure since entering the Legislature in 2003. In 2009, he voted against income tax hikes his party and its public employee union supporters wanted. Last fall, he was kicked off the House Business and Labor Committee after allegedly grabbing a woman’s breast at an AFL-CIO convention.

Last week, he clashed with Gov. John Kitzhaber, who disagreed with Schaufler's desire to crank timber harvests in state forests.

Reardon brings an unusual resume to the race. He is retiring from David Douglas at the end of the school year but prior to becoming a teacher, he worked at Tektronix for 21 years. He is a Vietnam War veteran and graduated from Western Washington University.


Reardon lives in East Portland with his wife, Annette Mattson, a longtime David Douglas school board member who works for Portland General Electric. He did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Schaufler was among the first sitting lawmakers to register for re-election, filing his papers last September. He told WW on Tuesday he is not afraid of a primary challenge.

Updated at 6:20 pm:

Reardon says the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and others asked him to run against Schaufler. He plans to file for the office early next week. "I considered running 10 years ago," Reardon says. "Mike [Schaufler] and I were speaking to the precinct committee people at the same time." (Schaufler won the seat previously held by now-City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who resigned from the Legislature to take the seat vacated by then-City Commissioner Charlie Hales, who is now running for mayor).