DeFazio Will Not Run

Without further comment:

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said in an interview today that he has decided not to challenge Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.

DeFazio had been the top choice of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, after a DSCC-commissioned poll showed him ahead of Smith. But the 11-term Congressman chairs a powerful House Transportation subcommittee responsible for doling out hundreds of billions of dollars of highway funding.

DeFazio had initially said in January he would not run, but in the past month he agreed to reconsider. Today's announcement, he said, came after speaking with many people, including colleagues who moved from the House to the Senate.

"I just did not feel that becoming a junior member of the Senate was going to allow me to serve as well and as effectively, particularly in the short term, as my current position," DeFazio said.