Rep. Rick Larsen (D)

The congressman from the 2nd District is Rick Larsen, a Democrat first elected in 2000. He grew up in Arlington, in Snohomish County, graduated from Pacific Lutheran University and got a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota. He spent a year doing research on economic development for the Port of Everett. For six years, he was director of public affairs for the Washington State Dental Association. In 1998, he won a seat on the Snohomish County Council and later became its president. In 2000, Republican Jack Metcalf kept his promise to retire after three terms in Congress. The Democratic field was cleared for Larsen when a state legislator unpopular with labor leaders withdrew. The Republican field was cleared for conservative state Rep. John Koster when a moderate legislator failed to raise much money and dropped out. In the September all-party primary, Koster won 49%-46%. The general election became a battleground for political action committees and one of the premier contests in the nation. Anti–abortion rights groups and the National Rifle Association backed Koster, and unions and abortion rights groups fought for Larsen. Larsen said that the contest offered “a clear choice” on abortion, and he criticized Koster for referring to “our American holocaust.” Larsen won 50%-46%, doing better than his primary performance in each major county.

In the House, Larsen joined the New Democrat Coalition and leans toward the center in his voting record. He voted for the Bush tax cuts in 2001. After voting against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, Larsen became a staunch supporter of the military effort. But the 2006 election results led him to oppose President George W. Bush’s troop surge. “The president does not understand the meaning of the election in 2006,” he said in January 2007. In July of that year, he joined Washington’s five other Democratic House members in voting for a resolution to set a firm date for troop withdrawal.

Larsen co-chairs the U.S.-China Working Group, a bipartisan group of House members that seeks to build lasting diplomatic ties with China. In October 2007, he hosted a meeting with lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that focused on the value of China’s currency and on intellectual-property abuses by the Chinese.

For a long time Larsen worked to have 106,000 acres in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest designated as wilderness; the House initially defeated his bill but finally passed it in 2008. The designation allows the land in Snohomish County to receive the highest level of federal protection. On other local issues, he has pushed to secure funds for upgraded border security at Bellingham and increased support for the Puget Sound ferries.

National Republicans made a play for the seat in 2006, raising money for retired Navy Capt. Doug Roulstone. But Roulstone turned out to be a weaker than expected candidate, and Larsen won 64%-36%. In 2008, Republicans recruited former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart, but Bart entered the contest late, which hurt his ability to raise money. Larsen defeated him 62%-38%.