Politicos' Facebook Rankings

If Facebook is the real indicator of awesomeness for our politicians, Oregonians clearly love former Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Though it was only nine days ago that Kitzhaber announced he was jumping back in the game, the Democratic primary candidate for governor has accumulated more Facebook support than any member of Oregon's congressional delegation.

With 7,637 fans, an increase of nearly 4,000 people from last week, Kitzhaber is Oregon's most popular politico on Facebook.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) takes the lead in the category of those currently holding seats, with 3,064 supporters. That's nearly half the fans of Kitzhaber, but at least that's up 24 fans from a week ago.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) is on the rise with increased support. Forty-four people joined his fan base over the past week. That's the next-largest jump in support. (DeFazio is not considered a likely candidate for governor in 2010, but he hasn't announced either way yet.)

Coming in dead last of the Facebook popularity ranking, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) has only 241 fans. That's an increase of only two people from last week. What happened there, Kurt?

Here's the ranking, for those who need to know:

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber: 7,637 fans
Sen. Ron Wyden: 3,064 fans
Rep. Peter DeFazio: 1,905 fans
Rep. Earl Blumenauer: 1,270 fans
Gov. Ted Kulongoski: 1,014 fans
Sen. Jeff Merkley: 986 fans
Rep. Kurt Schrader: 241 fan

As a general matter, WW puts very little stock in Facebook as a measure of politicians' statewide popularity. Leading up to the Democratic primary in the 2008 U.S. Senate race, candidate Steve Novick had more friends than his opponent Merkley, the eventual winner.

As of now, however, Kitzhaber's opponents have far fewer "friends." Former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has 1,047 friends. Clackamas County Chair Lynn Peterson has 69 friends.