Such is gerrymandering in America, with districts drawn to protect incumbents in Congress, that only about 50 of 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representative are truly competitive. By dint of retirement and internal party battles, however, Washington has four fierce House races this year.
The contests have consequences locally, as well as national implications. A tight battle for control of the “people’s house” is shaping up. Also, the election bears on the future of two endangered political species – main street conservative Republicans and Democrats from rural, Trump-leaning districts.
A pair of influential incumbents – Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer and Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers – are retiring. Rep. Marie Glusenkamp-Perez, a moderate Democrat, faces a rematch with MAGA Republican Joe Kent. And GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse defends his seat as the only surviving Republican House remember of the 10 who voted to impeach President Trump after the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Congress is composed of show horses and work horses. Joe Kent is running with ex-President Trump’s endorsement in Washington’s 3rd District (Southeast Washington). He has spoken of jailed January 6 rioters as “political prisoners.” He has called for the jailing and trial of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Over the last two weeks, Kent has, without evidence, promoted the notion of a conspiracy behind the attempted Trump assassination. In his words, “This is just so glaring and so obvious that really, honestly, the most likely conclusion is that there was some degree of insider help. This one-gunman theory, it never makes any sense.”
Glusenkamp-Perez (MGP) has followed a different path, defined by an old axiom: All politics is local. She is emphasizing service to rural constituents in her Southwest Washington district. MGP sits on the House Agriculture Committee, worked on the Farm Bill, and lately has advertised constituent hours in eastern Lewis County, perhaps the most conservative corner of Western Washington.
She has emphasized bipartisan cooperation. MGP is the lead sponsor of the Right to Repair bill, legislation to require manufacturers of combines, tractors, and other farm equipment to provide farmers and independent mechanics with information needed to fix their gear. Software tools are often needed and manufacturers – notably John Deere – have forced farmers to go to dealerships for fixes.
MGP is a top target, and state Republicans have endorsed Kent. She is fighting in a district twice carried by Trump. Teresa Purcell, a Democratic consultant who lives in Longview, messaged: “She is doing an incredible job of walking a very tight tightrope between connecting with Independents and moderate Republicans while keeping her Democratic base energized. There have been a few missteps but overall, it seems like she has gained the respect of a lot of the folks who thought she was not ready.”
If MGP is the rare moderate rural Democrat, traditional, pre-Trump rural Republicans are also taking a stand in the Evergreen State. In the 5th District of Eastern Washington, where Morris-Rodgers is retiring. State Rep. Jacqueline Maycumber, R-Republic, is competing with ex-State Sen. Michael Baumgartner in the Republican-leaning district. Once a challenger to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, Baumgartner is Spokane County Treasurer.
Of Maycumber, former House Republican leader State Rep. J.T. Wilcox wrote in an email: “She’s a serious legislator who is an old-fashioned conservative: Build the economy, small government and people who work. Well supported by both unions and law enforcement. Digs obsessively into details of legislation.”
Next door, in the 4th Congressional District, Newhouse is once more challenged from the right. With aid from mainstream Republicans – notably ex-U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton – he got into Congress by beating a Tea Party Republican, ex-NFL tight end Clint Didier. Newhouse is an adversary of wolves, reintroduction of grizzly bears, and big government. The third-generation Sunnyside farmer has shown independence just once – the impeachment vote.
Newhouse is now facing two foes. Ex-NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, who carries a Trump endorsement and sounds like “The Donald.” He decries environmentalists as “leftist doomsday soothsayers” who would “steal your freedom.”
Tiffany Smiley kept a distance from Trump in her 2022 run against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, but is running for the House as a full-throated supporter of Trump. In her words, “Dan Newhouse has spent almost a decade in Congress fighting against President Trump. He has been clear. He would rather have extremists like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in office than President Trump.”
Smiley has also zeroed in on a favorite Trumpian target — transgender teenagers. In a recent post on X, the former Twitter, she declared: “This isn’t hard. Biological boys play in boys’ sports and biological girls play in girls’ sports. You’re either in support of girls or you’re not.”
A rare Democratic officeholder, former longtime Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller, has watched the Republicans fight it out. “Newhouse is not toast,” said Miller. “He has effective TV ads and has lined up the support of much of the traditional Republican Party and has a lot of money.” Such traditional GOP endorsers as the National Rifle Assn. and National Federation of Independent Business have lined up behind Newhouse.
Washington ditched its partisan primary elections more than a decade ago, opting instead for a “top two” system. The first and second place finishers in August slug it out in November, even if they are of the same party. The possibility this year is of Republicans squaring off in the 4th and 5th Districts, with two Democrats in the 6th District.
The 6th District stretches from Tacoma across the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas. Over a period of 48 years, it has been effectively represented by two men, Kilmer and longtime (1976-2012) Rep. Norm Dicks. Both have achieved influence in Congress, but both are expected to hold town meetings in high school gyms, endure a grilling, and deliver for home folks.
The 6th is a needy district. The logging-based economy is declining, coastal Native American villages are tsunami vulnerable, and there is a big federal presence – Olympic National Park and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.
Joe Meyer, a former go-to development officer with Greater Grays Harbor, noted such projects as the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection levees, and said: “Many local officials would say the Olympic Peninsula needs economic opportunities, meaning good local jobs so young adults can stay in (and return to) the area and people can earn enough to support their families. Kilmer was adept funneling federal resources to high-impact projects and keeping staff connected to every city and town on the peninsula.”
The 6th District House battle features a high-profile contest that has split the Democratic Party. Dicks, Kilmer, and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards are backing State Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz. Sen. Murray and Glusenkamp-Perez, as well as former State Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark are endorsing State Sen. Emily Randall. Native-American tribes and fire fighters back Franz. The Washington State Labor Council and Planned Parenthood have lined up behind Randall.
Even newspapers are split. The News Tribune in Tacoma has endorsed Randall. The Seattle Times is backing Franz. Ross Anderson, a retired Times writer/columnist living in Port Townsend, has watched the race and reports: “The good news is there are two fine candidates – smart, articulate, experienced, both with blue collar roots. Initially, I thought Franz was a shoo-in. But I think it’s very close. Local Ds seem to lean toward Randall but this may reflect that we have a lot of gay and lesbian friends, who definitely prefer her.”
Hilary Franz is aggressively forward, very political, and has a reputation in Olympia of being difficult to work with. She does get things done, from boosting the state’s firefighting capability (climate change has meant bigger conflagrations) to brokering an agreement that preserved a natural area atop Blanchard Mountain south of Bellingham. Kilmer, in his endorsement, said: “Hilary Franz is a bold and strategic leader with a track record of bringing people together from across the state and from different backgrounds to find solutions to our shared problems.”
Some prominent greens don’t see it that way. “Hilary Franz does not get it,” said Tim McNulty, an Olympic Peninsula writer/conservationist. He faults Franz for failing to preserve naturally generated “legacy forests” for carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. He praises Randall for reaching out to community activists, saying: “She knows the poorest marginal communities will be most affected by climate change.”
Outside money has opened its wallet in the 6th District race. Protect Progress, a front group for cryptocurrency billionaires, has poured $1.4 million into an “independent” campaign supporting Randall. Its motives are unclear. That money is paying for TV ads with strong emphasis on identity politics, stressing that Randall would be the first LGBTQ Latina elected to Congress.
State Sen. Drew MacEwen, a Republican, has also filed and the GOP’s base vote may send him into the November election. But the drama is with the Franz versus Randall race. The 6th District leans strongly Democratic and has not sent a Republican to Congress since 1962.
The stakes are high. The Washington congressional delegation has a tradition of “punching above its weight” in the Other Washington, whether getting money for district projects or drawing wilderness boundaries or chairing important committees. Our primary election consequently commands attention, even though taking place in the dog days of summer.
