Will Novick endorse Frohnmayer?

If the results for the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination hold up over night, will a losing Steve Novick endorse independent John Frohnmayer over the apparent Democratic winner, Jeff Merkley?

Novick’s concession speech might provide a different answer from the one Novick gave in a candidate interview with Willamette Week last month.

If Novick sticks with what he told Willamette Week, he could throw his support to Frohnmayer, undercutting Merkley’s chances against Sen. Gordon Smith in the three-way race.

Here is the transcript of the Willamette Week interview of the four Democratic Senate primary candidates:

WW: Steve, who would you vote for [if you could not vote for yourself]?
Novick: I would vote for John Frohnmayer.
WW: He is not in this room.
Novick: (12 second pause) I have a very hard time answering that.
WW: You are going to have to make a hell of a lot harder decisions when you are on the floor of the Senate.
Novick: (31 second pause) I'd wait several weeks because I'd want to see whether Speaker Merkley continues to run the kind of campaign he has run against me ... [subsequent details omitted]
WW: OK, given what you know now.
Novick: Given what I know now, I would vote for Candy Neville.
WW: You like Frohnmayer [inaudible].
Novick: I think John Frohnmayer, with all due respect, has presented a thorough discussion of the major issues facing the country, and his positions are extremely progressive.