Wu Resignation: Everything you need to know

Kari Chisholm

What a day yesterday was. With "David Wu" the hottest trending Google search in the country, everyone was paying attention to our little corner of the world.

I spent much of the day updating a bunch of posts with various angles on the story. Here's a few highlights.

• As dawn broke, we had the news that on Monday night, KATU released a poll indicating that 75% of OR-1 voters wanted Wu to resign, including 68% of Democrats.

• Then, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley released a statement calling on Wu to resign. As we now know, via the AP, Wyden and Merkley's chiefs of staff went to Wu's team and told them what was coming.

• Almost immediately thereafter, the news broke that Wu was calling it quits. His full statement and the day's rundown here.

• Commentators from all over - left, right, otherwise - weighed in throughout the day on various aspects from the political considerations, to the jokes, to the gender politics, to a really bizarre animation from Taiwan, and more. Check all that out here.

• Here in Oregon, of course, one big question was "What happens next?". By mid-afternoon, Governor John Kitzhaber gave us the answer: a special election, featuring both a primary election and a general election. We don't however, yet know the date. We'll know that as soon as Wu makes his resignation official.

• So, who's running? On the Democratic side, Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and Rep. Brad Witt are in already, of course. Beyond that, it's all speculation. Lots of talk about Senator Suzanne Bonamici. And analyst Len Bergstein hints at a "self-funder" Democrat from the business community.

• On the Republican side, the full list of names mentioned include: 2010 nominee Rob Cornilles, Tea Party activists (and 2010 candidates) John Kuzmanich and Doug Keller, business owner Rob Miller, state Reps. Katie Eyre Brewer and Shawn Lindsay, and Molly Bordonaro (the 1998 nominee and former Ambassador to Malta). Sen. Bruce Starr reiterated his March decision not to run. All the details on possible candidates are here.

• Final note for the night: In comments to Newsweek's Daily Beast, Allen Alley signaled the forthcoming campaign message from the Republicans:

But the other possibility is that Democrats take blame for “allowing” Wu to keep his job, despite years of weird behavior, said Allen Alley, chairman of the Oregon GOP.

“The Democratic Party knew this was going on and they let the guy get elected,” Alley said. “They’re going to have to tell the electorate why they’re not responsible for it in any way, shape, or form, and I think that’s going to be hard.”

• Update, 11 a.m.: Just noticed this comment in the print edition of the Oregonian's coverage, from Maria Smithson - Wu's '98 manager and former DPO vice-chair - with a parallel comment to Alley's:

"There are far too many of us on this long journey with David over the last 12 years that kept our mouth shut when we should not have. And ultimately, we bear some responsibility in allowing him to be a member of Congress," said Maria Smithson, who managed Wu's first campaign in 1998.

Now it's your turn. Next day reactions?

By Kari Chisholm July 27, 2011