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POSTED: Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008

With one exception, Western Washington congressional incumbents favored to win

The incumbents include one who was hailed by conservatives after he flipped his stance on the Iraq war, one who has hung out with Special Ops forces along one of the most dangerous borders in the world, and another who has used the same slogan on his yard signs for 30 years.

The challengers include a retired sheriff, several anti-war advocates, one who wants to create a "green industrial complex," a skeptic about global warming and another who wants to return the monetary system to either the gold or silver standard.

All are confident about being one of the top two vote-getters in their respective Western Washington congressional primaries on Aug. 19. The top two, regardless of party, advance to the November election.

Despite the optimism, political handicappers expect the incumbents, with one exception, to be easily re-elected. The exception is the state's 8th Congressional District, where two-term Republican Rep. Dave Reichert faces another strong challenge from Democrat Darcy Burner in a rematch that's attracting national attention.

Burner has been running ever since Reichert beat her by two percentage points, 51-49, in 2006. She has raised more money than Reichert and has more money in her campaign account, leading to the view that the race is considered a dead heat.

Here's a closer look at the congressional races in Western Washington:

2ND DISTRICT

Republicans have long thought four-term Rep. Rick Larsen was vulnerable, but the Democrat from Everett, whose district includes all of Whatcom County, won his last two races with more than 60 percent of the vote.

"I feel real good about the campaign," Larsen said, adding he had already raised $1 million and his volunteers rang doorbells at 20,000 houses.

A member of the House Armed Service Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Larsen has worked to increase security along the Canadian border, provide more funding for programs to fight methamphetamine and help create the Wild Sky Wilderness. He voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, but supported the Bush tax cuts in 2001.

The Republican candidate in the race is Rick Bart, a retired Snohomish County sheriff who criticizes Congress for a "lack of fiscal responsibility." He believes congressional earmarks should be eliminated and argues that government bureaucracy and high taxes are stifling business growth.

Two others are also running: Glen Johnson, a Mount Vernon farmer who's running as a Democrat, and Doug Schaffer, a Snohomish business consultant who listed his party affiliation as Democrat but says he is really an independent.

Johnson said small scale farms are the key to ensuring the nation's food security. He believes it is time to create a "green industrial complex" that would be environmentally friendly.

Schaffer said it's time to end the partisan bickering that has caused congressional gridlock while nothing is done about health care, Social Security and energy.

Larsen has raised $1 million and had $615,000 in the bank at the end of June, according to campaign disclosure reports. Bart has raised $31,000, but was $735 in debt. Neither Schaffer nor Johnson had raised any money, according to the FEC records.

Two of the four will advance.

3RD DISTRICT

Rep. Brian Baird, a Vancouver resident seeking a sixth term, stunned fellow Democrats when he announced after a trip to Iraq that he supported the surge in U.S. forces. He initially voted against the war. Republicans loved him, some Democrats shunned him and his switch touched off a passionate debate in his district.

One of his challengers is a fellow Democrat: Cheryl Crist calls herself the "Peace Candidate." She argues that the $12 billion being spent monthly on the war could be better spent on domestic priorities.

There are two Republicans in the race: Michael Delavar, an airline pilot who supported GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, and Christine Webb, a former school board chairwoman who claims the backing of the district's GOP establishment.

6TH DISTRICT

In Rep. Norm Dicks' first congressional race, his yard signs read "He Works For Jobs." The only year the Democrat from Belfair didn't use the slogan his margin of victory was narrower than in any of his other campaigns. Lately, Dicks has been winning around 70 percent of the vote.

Dicks is a member of the powerful "College of Cardinals," the 12 House appropriations subcommittee chairmen. As head of the House interior appropriations subcommittee, he controls a $27 billion spending bill. He is the senior member of the state's congressional delegation and ranks 14th in seniority among the 435 House members.

But Dicks' campaign for a 17th term hasn't been without some bumps. The Grays Harbor Democrats declined to endorse him because he supported war funding.

Democrat Paul Richmond, an activist lawyer from Port Townsend, said it's time to stop funding the war and pull out of Iraq immediately.

Also running in the primary are Gary Murrell, a Green Party candidate and former Hoquiam City Council member, and Republican Doug Cloud, a Tacoma attorney who is challenging Dicks for the third time.

8TH DISTRICT

Reichert, the popular ex-King County sheriff who spent 20 years tracking the Green River Killer, has shown an increasingly independent streak on such issues as the environment. But his ties to an unpopular president, including fundraisers, in a district that has swung slightly Democratic could be his biggest problem.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made defeating Reichert a top priority and set aside nearly $1 million to spend in the general election. Democrats will try to tie him to Bush.

While all the attention has been on Reichert and his main opponent, Democrat Darcy Burner, there are four other candidates in the race.

Two filed as Democrats: James Vaughn and Keith Arnold. John Orlinski and Richard Todd stated no party preference on the ballot.

9TH DISTRICT

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Tacoma, who is seeking a seventh term, is developing a growing reputation on national security issues.

As chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities subcommittee, Smith oversees the nation's Special Operations Forces. He has visited Spec Ops bases along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Republican James Postma, a retired engineer from Steilacoom, is the only other candidate in the race. Postma said Smith is a "capable" congressman, but while "he talks kind of moderate ... what he actually does is something else. He votes far left."

Since it's a two-man race, both will advance to the November election.

Les Blumenthal covers issues about Washington state from the McClatchy Washington, D.C., bureau. He can be reached at lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com.