That was quick

I must confess, yesterday I could not have told you who the Oregon labor and industries commissioner is.

But today I can, because she jumped right up and declared her candidacy for Peter De Fazio's seat in Congress yesterday, about five seconds after he announced his retirement.

Her name is Val Hoyle, and she's from Springfield. She's been in her statewide office for about three years. Before that she was a mucky-muck in the state Legislature. Usually the labor commissioner is one of the people who think they're going to be governor some day, but a gig in Congress is even more extra crispy, and so Hoyle's off and running for that.

Her decade or so in the Oregon House is a strike against her in my book. You could fit the Legislature's accomplishments over the last 20 years in a thimble. But this is Congress she's talking about, and all I would want her to do there is to be a real Democrat, not like that faker Kurt Schrader or Ron "Gatsby" Wyden (R-NY). If she behaves like a true progressive, she'll have some awkward campaign stops in Roseburg, but otherwise, she'll do no harm.

Hoyle's newly 'mandered turf is one of the two Oregon districts that don't include Portland. She's got to run in Eugene, Corvallis, and the coast from Lincoln City on down to Brookings. Roseburg too, but no Medford, Grants Pass, or Ashland.

We'll see who else jumps into the ring. Especially on the Republican side, it could get comical.