Oregon Public Broadcasting

Salem Republican Craig Campbell has told OPB he won't seek the state treasurer's office this year.

Campbell is a well-connected lobbyist who acknowledged the state Republican Party pressured him to run. As Ethan Lindsey reports, the Oregon GOP is still without a candidate for statewide office.

Craig Campbell is the son of former house Speaker Larry Campbell, who led the Republican takeover of the statehouse in 1991.

Campbell says family and this year's pro-Democratic political climate helped shape his decision not to run for treasurer.

Craig Campbell: “One, this is not the time. And two, there will be a time. The idea of seeking statewide elective office is something that has always appealed to me.”

Campbell got extra pressure to run from central Oregon, says Redmond Republican activist Dennis Tooley.

Tooley says conservatives felt burned when former Republican State Senator Ben Westlund, from Bend, switched parties.

He's running for treasurer as a Democrat.

Dennis Tooley: “There's a lot of disappointment in Ben's flip flop on a lot of the issues."

No Oregon Republicans have filed for any statewide office this year.