More Than Half Of Oregon House Has Filed For Re-election Already

While it's true that several House Democrats have announced they won't be returning to Salem in 2013, the truth is that most state reps from both parties intend to try. In the first three weeks of the filing season, more than half of the members of the current Oregon House have filed for re-election--31, to be precise. And when you factor in the four incumbents who definitely aren't running again (Mary Nolan, Jefferson Smith, Jean Cowan, and Dave Hunt), as well as Brad Witt--who is running for Congress, but could still seek re-election if he's unsuccessful in the upcoming CD-1 Special Election--then you really have 31 out of 55 incumbents who have already filed. (Ben Cannon is also not running for re-election, but I don't include him here since he has already resigned his seat and will soon be replaced by Alissa Keny-Guyer, who will be sworn in next Tuesday.)

Over in the Senate, seven out of the 15 incumbents up for re-election have filed. So far, no senators have said they won't run again. (Suzanne Bonamici is running for Congress, but her seat is not up for re-election next year.)

Another note:  So far, sitting lawmakers have not drawn much opposition. Just nine non-incumbents have filed to run for the state legislature. But political hopefuls have until next March to decide.