Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg seeking GOP nomination to face Rep. Peter DeFazio in 2020

by News Staff

Fri, August 16th 2019, 12:13 AM UTC

Gov. Kate Brown speaks with Alek Skarlatos after Skarlatos was awarded the Oregon Distinguished Service Award on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 in Salem, Ore. Brown presented the Oregon Distinguished Service Medal to Skarlatos, the Oregon National Guard specialist who helped subdue a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound train last year. (Gordon Friedman/Statesman-Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Rep. Peter DeFazio faced Art Robinson 5 times between 2010 and 2018.

Spencer Stone (left) and Alek Skarlatos in the movie "The 15:17 to Paris." (Photo: Warner Bros.)

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Gov. Kate Brown speaks with Alek Skarlatos after Skarlatos was awarded the Oregon Distinguished Service Award on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 in Salem, Ore. Brown presented the Oregon Distinguished Service Medal to Skarlatos, the Oregon National Guard specialist who helped subdue a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound train last year. (Gordon Friedman/Statesman-Journal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

ROSEBURG, Ore. - The Oregon man who helped thwart a terror attack on a Paris-bound train and later played himself in the Clint Eastwood movie about the incident is seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in Oregon's 4th Congressional District.

Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg aims to defeat perennial GOP candidate Art Robinson in the May 2020 primary - and take on incumbent Democrat Rep. Peter DeFazio of Springfield in the November 2020 election.

Skarlatos ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Douglas County Commission in 2018.

He announced his bid for Congress on Thursday.

In a video posted to Facebook, Skarlatos cast himself as the candidate with Oregon values.

DeFazio has represented the district - which includes Lane, Linn, Coos, Curry and Douglas counties - since 1987.

Now chairman of the House Transportation Committee, DeFazio had faced and defeated Robinson in every general election since 2010.

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