Sorry for the delay in passing this along, but for the Oregonians in this crowd, this article by Jeff Mapes is quite interesting.

Oregon Republican Chairman Kevin Mannix, who is preparing to run for governor a second time, said Thursday he will step down from his party position next month.

Mannix, an attorney in Salem, said he decided to speed up his timetable for leaving the chairmanship because the political activity surrounding the 2006 governor's race is "heating up sooner than expected."

Portland lawyer Ron Saxton, who lost to Mannix in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary, also is planning to run again, and he is competing with Mannix for endorsements and financial support.

Mannix and Saxton criticized each other after Saxton announced his exploratory candidacy in March. Under prompting from some Republicans, Mannix then announced he would not criticize any other Republican as long as he was party chairman.

Although the Oregon Governor's race is still 18 months away, it'll be one we'll be watching the whole time.