Oregon Public Broadcasting

Tuesday is the deadline to file to get on the May primary ballot in Oregon. But the field is already crowded in the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

The two front-runners will share the ballot with at least four other candidates.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman has this look at the lesser-knowns.

If you’ve been paying attention at all to Oregon politics, you’ve probably heard of the Democratic front runners in the race:  Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick.

They have at least some level of name recognition that the other candidates don’t have.  Those other candidates also don’t a lot of money.  So it’s not surprising that they take every chance they get to promote their  campaign.

Pavel Goberman:  “Visit my website, getenergized-dot-com.”

That’s fitness instructor Pavel Goberman, speaking at a recent Senate candidate debate in Eugene.  For another would-be Senator, the debate was a chance to make sure people pronounced his name correctly.

David Loera:  “Some people call it Laura, Leora, and some other people call it Loreal, like the hair product.  But anyway it’s Loera.”

His first name is David.  But he and Goberman didn’t win the vote of at least one person in the audience.  Bill Tracy says he doesn’t know yet who will get his vote for Senate in May.  But he has narrowed it down to three candidates.

Bill Tracy:  “That would be Novack and Merkel and the lady whose name I cannot recall.”

The lady whose name he couldn’t remember is Eugene real estate broker Candy Neville. Like Goberman and Loera, she has no prior political experience.  Neville says she knows that with a fraction of the budget of the two front runners, she’ll have an uphill battle.

Candy Neville:  “I’m going to have to rely heavily on the internet, I’m going to have to hit the streets, I’m going to have to stand on the corner, I’m going to have to wear a beanie with a propeller on my head. I’m going to have to do whatever I can do with what I do have.”

Also in the race is retired construction worker Roger Obrist.  Merkley and Novick don’t seem to be paying the other four candidates much attention.  At the Eugene debate, the two traded jabs on issues such as social security and the war in Iraq.

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on incumbent Republican Gordon Smith in November.