BOLI: Dave Hunt and Diane Rosenbaum considering campaigns for Labor Commissioner

Kari Chisholm FacebookTwitterWebsite

It's been a bit of a mystery over the last few months. Since April 18, when Brad Avakian announced his run for Congress, the race for Labor Commissioner has been wide open.

And yet, no one has jumped up to run for the job.

Now, courtesy of the O's Jeff Mapes, we have confirmation of two Democrats actively considering the race: Rep. Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) and Sen. Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland).

[Hunt] confirmed he is looking at running for the seat. The Gladstone resident said he also might run for the Clackamas County chairmanship, or he might stay in the House and look toward running against Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, in 2014. ...

Rosenbaum's spokeswoman, Molly Woon, said in an e-mail that Rosenbaum wasn't available to talk but was aware that her "name has been mentioned" as a potential candidate. "At this point, she hasn't made a decision about the race," Woon added.

And, just so that everyone's clear, Mapes also asked Avakian if he'd consider abandoning his run for Congress and running for re-election. Nope, Brad's all in:

"I think we're off to a very strong start in the congressional race and I can't imagine doing anything else," said Avakian, adding flatly that, "I will not be running for labor commissioner."

What do you think? Are you hoping that either Hunt or Rosenbaum run? Hoping for someone else? What will you be looking for in a Labor Commissioner candidate?

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    i like Dave a lot after this session, but i hope Diane goes for this. i think she's now in a stronger position as a leader, and we need more women in statewide office.

    plus, i like the idea of Senator Jules Bailey...

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    It's likely each would be a strong labor commissioner.

    Yet it's time to have more brilliant women in statewide office, and I'd like Hunt to take his impressive campaign skills to recapture the Olsen Senate seat. My guess is Rosenbaum's SE Portland Senate seat is, shall we say, safe.

    Win-win in my book.

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    This post and Mapes' article are both pretty thin on actual news. Summary: We wondered if Dave Hunt or Diane Rosenbaum might be interested in being BOLI Commissioner. One said maybe and one said neither yes nor no. Not sure that adds up to "confirmation" of anything, but whatever.

    Wow, glad to know that journalism is alive and well in Oregon. Wake me when you have something to "report" that is more than what you were wondering.

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      Well, Sen. Rosenbaum did not say, "No, I'm not interested" - which is what, for example, Brad Avakian said.

      I do think that's newsworthy.

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