Web Legal Scholar Considers Run For House

SAN FRANCISCO — Lawrence Lessig, the Web legal scholar, said Wednesday that he was mulling a campaign for the House of Representatives, a move that could pit the Internet icon in a race against a Democratic loyalist.

Mr. Lessig would run for the seat left vacant by the Feb. 11 death of Representative Tom Lantos, who represented the 12th District of California for nearly 14 terms. The district, south of San Francisco, runs straight through the heart of Silicon Valley, where Mr. Lessig is considered a celebrity, though one who wears glasses and uses phrases like “net neutrality.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Lessig’s quasi-announcement was made, not surprisingly, in a posting on his blog and an accompanying 10-minute Web video.

“It is very rare to have the chance to live in times where there’s the opportunity for fundamental change; this is one of those times,” said Mr. Lessig, a Stanford professor who is the founder of the Center for Internet and Society at the university. “We need to fix Washington now.”

He has not specified under which party’s banner he might run.

Before his death from cancer, Mr. Lantos had seemingly anointed a successor by endorsing Jackie Speier, a former state senator who left office in 2006. In his announcement, Mr. Lessig seemed to have already mastered the backhanded compliment, calling Ms. Speier an “extraordinary public servant” who nevertheless had taken money in the past from special interests, including insurance companies.

“It’s exactly that kind of behavior that I think is wrong,” said Mr. Lessig, who added that he would make a final decision about the race by end of February, the deadline to declare for the April 8 special election.

The potential campaign would be part of a national effort, called Change Congress, to have politicians swear off lobbyists’ money and Congressional earmarks and embrace public financing of campaigns.

Alex Tourk, a spokesman for Ms. Speier, who has the backing of many of the state’s Democratic leaders, said they had heard the rumors of Mr. Lessig’s interest and “had expected a contested race from Day 1.”

“We take it very seriously,” Mr. Tourk said. “But it’s not going to affect our race.”

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