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Republican Art Robinson, shown in his office at his science institute on his ranch in Cave Junction, has decided to mount a third race against Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.

(Jeff Mapes/The Oregonian)

Oregon Republican Chairman Art Robinson on Tuesday filed to run against Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio for the third consecutive election.

Robinson, a scientist and homeschooling advocate who is

, said he doesn't yet know if he will stay as the party chairman through the next election cycle.

Robinson didn't announce his plans, although he has said since losing the last election to him that he might run again. He said in a telephone interview that he was driving past Salem on Tuesday and decided to drop in to the state elections office and file in the Fourth Congressional District, which stretches from Corvallis and Eugene down to to the California border.

"It means that I hope that this time I can whip the guy," he said. "But he's a tough customer, so who knows what will happen."

DeFazio could not be immediately reached for reaction.

UPDATE

:

DeFazio released this statement:





Robinson said he might be helped by the low approval rating voters have of Congress. He said he thought his fellow Republicans took the right course in forcing the 16-day government shutdown with their attempt to delay or defund the new federal health care law.

He said he would have voted against the deal to end the shutdown. "My own personal preference would have been to see that play out further," he said.

Robinson attracted national attention when he first ran against DeFazio in 2010. A biochemist who once worked with famed scientist Linus Pauling, Robinson runs a scientific institute on his ranch near Cave Junction and has a national following thanks to a homeschooling curriculum his family markets and an energy newsletter he writes and publishes.

He raised enough money from supporters around the country to give DeFazio a scare -- particularly after one backer, New York hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, independently spent $650,000 on ads attacking DeFazio.

DeFazio won by 10 points that year and doubled his victory margin in 2012 as he

as an extremist who had once called for the abolition of public schools and a phase-out of Social Security.

Robinson accused DeFazio of distorting his views and said that his newsletter was a "polemic" and didn't represent what he would do in Congress. Last August, Robinson was

after Tigard businesswoman Suzanne Gallagher resigned the chairmanship after critics mounted a recall drive against her.

Robinson said Tuesday that he will focus his energy on the chairmanship for now and won't gear up his congressional candidacy until later. "I dropped my name in," he said, "but I won't be thinking about this for the next three or four months."

--Jeff Mapes