As we predicted, the outgoing interim U.S. attorney, Dwight Holton, has positioned himself to run for Oregon attorney general by leaving the U.S. attorney's office and signing up for a cup of coffee with a private law firm. They'll probably get at least a year's work out of him, because the incumbent, John Kroger, is likely to serve out his term unless his mysterious illness forces him out sooner. Kroger and Holton are close personal friends, and there's no way Kroger is going to step down and let the governor appoint somebody else, who could then run under a "retain" banner.

But the real news this morning is that Holton is going to have an opponent -- Ellen Rosenblum, a recently retired judge from the Oregon Court of Appeals. Rosenblum, like Holton, is a former assistant U.S. attorney, and she served on both the Multnomah County district and circuit courts before she was elevated to the Court of Appeals in 2005. Her first appointment to the bench was in 1989, by then-Governor Neil Goldschmidt. She stepped down from judging last April. Oh, and she is also the spouse of Willamette Week publisher Richard Meeker, and so it ought to be one darned interesting race.

Holton's tough stance on medical marijuana made headlines in his U.S. attorney gig. It will be interesting to hear him deal with that on the campaign trail now that he's out of federal office. And since her husband's publication is obsessed with pot stories, it will also be interesting to hear how the judge spins that issue.

And of course, there will be many more topics of interest in the contest. In any event, that vacancy has gone from sleepy to exciting in a hurry.