Defazio commits, Wyden still up in the air

As the Oregon primary looms near, the race to secure more superdelegates continues to heat up. Barack Obama's campaign announced today the endorsement of Congressman Peter Defazio, adding to current endorsers Congressmen Earl Blumenauer and David Wu. Hillary Clinton has superdelegate endorsements from retiring Congresswoman Darlene Hooley and Governor Ted Kulongoski.

That leaves Senator Ron Wyden as the only remaining member of the Oregon congressional delegation not to commit to a candidate. One reason for his hold out might be his Chief of Staff Josh Kardon who is Clinton's Oregon campaign chair. Kardon has done a hard push for Clinton here in Oregon, however, with little result given recent polling showing Obama ahead in Oregon by 10-12 points.

Remaining Oregon superdelegates include party officials Meredith Wood Smith, Frank Dixon, Wayne Kinney, Jenny Greenleaf and Gail Rasmussen. Last January, all stated they were remaining neutral until primary day. Given Obama's likely nomination, we shall see if they can resist the temptation.