Wu no seat no longer rated "solid D"

The Cook Political Report, one of the major congressional race handicappers, has just moved Democratic Rep. David Wu’s 1st Congressional District seat from “solid D” to “likely D.”

Wu is the second Oregon incumbent, after freshman Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader, to move into that category.  The state’s other three incumbents are rated as having politically safe seats.

This doesn’t mean that Wu will face one of the top battleground races this fall.  But the rating definitely signals that the six-term incumbent can’t take his reelection for granted, particularly if the year continues to veer toward the Republicans.

You need a subscription to read the full Cook analysis, but the report notes that with President Obama getting 61 percent of the district’s vote in 2008, it “isn’t at the top of the list” of competitive seats for Republicans.  But it said Republican strategists like sports marketing executive Rob Cornilles, one of four GOP candidates in the race.  And Cook notes that while Wu has solidified his hold on the district in recent years, he has “never had to run for reelection in this kind of political environment.”
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