2010 Oregon Senate - Huffman vs. Wyden

10/8/10 -- Wyden's polling numbers have improved in recent polls, and he seems to be comfortably above 50 percent now.  This may be something of a missed opportunity for Republicans.

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Oregon had two Republican senators well into the 1990s. Both were anachronisms of sorts, drawn from the Progressive Republican tradition that used to dominate Oregon politics. One, Mark Hatfield, was a pacifistic, pro-life moderate, whose political career spanned four decades in Oregon. The other senator, Bob Packwood, was one of the leading pro-choice legislators in Congress, and one of two Republican senators to vote against Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

When Packwood was brought down by a slew of allegations that he had sexually harassed several women, Congressman Ron Wyden faced off against businessman Gordon Smith in a special election to replace him. Wyden won narrowly; Smith later joined Wyden in the Senate when Hatfield retired. Wyden’s voting record has been largely liberal, although not overwhelmingly so, and he has embraced some market-style initiatives, such as the eponymous Wyden-Bennett health care bill.

Wyden has won re-election handily, but the political environment this year has brought his numbers down. His polls through August have placed him right at 50 percent, which puts this race on our radar screen.