Joel Haugen, who ran as a Republican but supports few, if any, Republican values, waited until yesterday to drop his Republican affiliation and asked his good friend Billy Bradbury to list him as an Independent - meaning that in this run, Republicans have no candidate to field against Congressman David Wu (D-Hu). Not that it matters all that much, as a large number of Republicans have come to see Joey as essentially a Ben Westlund wannabe. When he loses this election cycle, as he will, expect to see him pull a complete Westlund and re-affiliate as a Democrat.
Joey, like Benny, has long been a RILO (Republican In Label Only). I prefer the term, RILO over the more frequently used term, RINO because the latter tends to conjure up a mental image of a powerful beast. And while Benny and Joey may be beasts, they certainly aren't powerful in any sense other than that of olfaction: they stink the place up.