Attorney Steve Novick, who nearly defeated state Speaker Jeff Merkley in the Democratic Senate primary, has sent out an e-mail fundraising appeal for state Sen. Kurt Schrader, the Democratic nominee in the open 5th district race.

Schrader is running against wealthy businessman Mike Erickson, the 2006 GOP nominee. Erickson made a good showing last cycle against outgoing Rep. Darlene Hooley (D), but he has been knocked off balance in his campaign this cycle by charges challenging his veracity.

Novick said in his e-mail that Democrats can’t assume that Erickson’s troubles will translate into an easy race for Schrader, noting that anything donated will go directly into the Democrat’s television advertising budget.

“You may have heard a bunch of scandalous things about Kurt’s opponent, and assume that means this isn’t a real race. The problem is, not everyone reads the newspapers,” Novick wrote. “Mike Erickson, has unlimited personal wealth. He’ll use that wealth to tell voters that Mike Erickson’s a great American and Kurt Schrader’s a Communist.”