Oregon Public Broadcasting

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden will face some competition this November after all. For a while it looked as though no one would take on the Oregon Democrat.

He's looking to win a third full term. Two potential challengers are emerging this week.

Chris Lehman reports.

Wyden easily cruised to re-election the last time around. So far in this election cycle, no high-profile opponents have stepped up to take on Wyden and his three million dollar campaign war chest.

Lewis & Clark law professor Jim Huffman will kick off his campaign Thursday evening in Portland. He's the best-known Republican challenger in a GOP primary filled with political novices.

Meanwhile, Libertarian candidate Marc Delphine announced his candidacy at a state capitol press conference. Delphine is openly gay. He's also an organizer in the Oregon Tea Party movement. But he says he doesn't want to be known as the Tea Party candidateMarc Delphine: “To say we're going to get more support from one area versus another, I can't really make that call. I would hope that the Tea Partiers would understand that my message is favorable to that movement.”Ron Wyden's campaign manager, Jake Weigler, says Wyden is planning to take his re-election campaign seriously no matter runs against him.