Maple Valley Honors Outgoing Congressman And Business Leader

The Maple Valley Reporter reports that on October 23rd, the Maple Valley Mayor Sean Kelly and the  City Council made proclamations to make honorary street signs for Retiring Congressman Dave Reichert and former councilman and deputy mayor Jim Flynn (third from left in picture).
Reichert, a former King County Sheriff, was honored for his part in helping to reopen the Hicks-Rayburn precinct station in Maple Valley.  The station had been closed during an economic slump as a cost cutting measure.  Dave Reichert Way will be SE 231st Street between State Route 169 and Witte Rd.
Jim Flynn and his family were developers of  the Wilderness Village area on the Maple Valley Highway and Witte Rd.  He was involved with the city's incorporation, serving as Deputy-Mayor from 1997-2007.   He was also president of Maple Valley's Chamber Of Commerce.  Flynn Way will be 225th Ave SE, North of State Route 169.

Dino Rossi May Run For Congress

Speculations seem to indicate that GOP Washington State Senator Dino Rossi may be gearing up for a run for congress.   Rossi would run in Washington's 8th district, the only Congressional District in the state that has been in Republican hands since it's inception. If elected, he would succeed retiring 5th district congressman Dave Reichert.
  Rossi is a veteran politician who served 2 terms in Washington's 5th legislative district until his nearly successful race for governor.  In 2004, Rossi was defeated by Attorney General Christine Gregoire in the closest Governor's race in US history.  Rossi would later make another unsuccessful attempt for governor against Gregoire.
Rossi would later run for US Senate against incumbent Patty Murray. 
Rossi was appointed to return to the state senate, succeeding Cheryl Pflug who resigned to take an appointment from Christine Gregoire.  Rossi left the position after Democrat Mark Mullet was elected to the Senate.
After the death of Senator Andy Hill in the 45th district, Rossi was appointed to again serve in the state senate on an interim basis.  Rossi is in Real Estate and has had other business interests in the Seattle area.

Dave Reichert Will Retire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News has been received that Dave Reichert not seek another term representing Washington's 8th Congressional District.  Reichert has held the seat since 2005.

Ventrella Seeks Reichert's House Seat

Tony Ventrella, long time Seattle area TV sportscaster, has announced his candidacy for the U.S. House Of Representatives.  The 8th Congressional District, which covers Maple Valley and Issaquah, now extends east into Chelan and Kittitas Counties.  It is the only district in the state that has never elected a Democrat.
Ventrella, who describes himself as a moderate Democrat, has long been considered a potential candidate for Congress.  He has vowed not to take contributions from political action committees or big checks from wealthy donors.  His strengths are name familiarity from decades on the evening news and his likability.   He most likely would be thought of as a consensus builder who would reach across the aisle. 
Dave Reichert, the former King County sheriff, has held the seat since 2004.

WA 8th CD Democrats Nominate Ritchie

A caucus of Democratic Party leaders of the 8th Congressional district have nominated Jason Ritchie  to challenge sitting Republican congressman Dave Reichert.  Ritchie is an Issaquah based small business owner. 
Democrats from throughout the state met this last weekend at the Silver Reef Casino (above) in Ferndale for the fall State Committee meeting.

Del Bene To Spend Warchest In The Stretch

Democratic Activists Arlene and Reuben (pictured above) Powell graciously hosted a get together for Maple Valley area voters to get to know Suzan Del Bene. Del Bene, a former Microsoft executive and founder of drugstore.com, is challenging Republican incumbent Dave Reichert to represent the 8th district in the US House of Representatives. Del Bene says she was motivated to seek the office after watching friends and neighbors struggle through hard times and by what she sees as a passive performance by Congressman Reichert. She said that Reichert has not shown up for various candidate forums, including the Tacoma News Tribune endorsement interview. She pointed out a propensity for Reichert to "flip-flop" in issues that the 8th District is passionate about.

Del Bene said that her performance in the primary was much better than expected. She says that she held her spending down so that she would could use her war chest in the stretch days of the campaign.

5th District Democrats Endorse Delbene

The 5th district Democrats of Washington have endorsed Suzan Delbene to represent the 8th district in the U.S. House Of Representatives. The seat is currently held by Republican Dave Reichert, a former King County Sherrif.

Suzan Del Bene Announces Candidacy For 8th District

Local Businesswoman Suzan Del Bene has announced her intentions to oppose incumbent Dave Reichert to represent Washington's 8th District in the US House Of Representatives. The 8th, which comprises Seattle's eastern and southern suburbs was once a safe Republican seat, however, Reichert's last two victories came by slim margins over Democrat Darcy Burner. The 8th is the only congressional district in the state to have been represented by only one party since it's inception.

Dave Reichert Declared Winner In 8th District.

In another Democratic year, Republican Dave Reichert once again pulled a rabbit out of his hat and won another squeaker in Washington's 8th Congressional District. In a previous post from election day, I listed Darcy Burner with the winners, after she was ahead toward the end of the race. Well in my opinion, Darcy Burner really is a winner.

Darcy Burner's Son Was Hero

I'm taking a break from recounting our wonderful trip, Darcy Burner's is continuing her campaign for Congress. I was able to find this video where she talks about her son saving there lives after the housefire on the 1st of July.

Rodney Tom Will Run For Congress

Believe it or not, before 1994, Washington's 4th and 5th Congressional District of Yakima and Spokane, respectively, sent Democratic representatives to Congress, not so for our 8th Congressional District. Since it's creation in 1990, this moderate Suburban Seattle district has only been represented by Republicans. Somehow, Rod Chandler, Jennifer Dunn, and now Sheriff Dave Reichert have shown at least the appearance of being bi-partisan. By that token, Rodney Tom is jumping into the race. Tom was a moderate Republican in the State House of Representatives, who jumped across the aisle and ran for State Senate as a Democrat, beating more strident Republican Luke Esser. Tom will now challenge Darcy Burner for the Democratic nomination. Burner last year, narrowly lost to Reichert. Tom thinks he can bring some of his supporters from campaigns past along with Democrats who think that Burner did not adequitely answer Republican charges of being too inexperienced in the public sector or who may be uncomfortable with some of her more Liberal views. I believe that the 8th Congressional District is the only one to have one party represent it thought it's entire existence (Seattle's 7th had Republican Jack Cunningham elected in a special election to replace Brock Adams in 1977), hopefully that little quirk will be changed in the next election cycle.

Tony Ventrella--Now A Candidate

Sources tell me that Tony Ventrella is now a declared Democratic candidate for Washington's 8th US Congressional district. Ventrella becomes the second media figure to seek the position. KIRO talk show host Dave Ross sought the then vacant seat in 2004, losing to Sheriff Dave Reichert. Darcy Burner, who lost to Reichert last year is also seeking support for a 2008 run.