Three-time loser Dino Rossi is running for office. Again.
Good analysis and rather long read. I highly recommend you read the whole thing.
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Dino Rossi is famous for one thing: losing statewide elections.
Let's count 'em. After a remarkably conservative but otherwise unremarkable tenure in the state legislature, Rossi ran for governor against Christine Gregoire in 2004. After a recount, he lost by a little more than a hundred votes. Feeling cheated out of a win, Rossi challenged Gregoire to another round in 2008. He lost again, but this time much more decisively. In 2010, when Republicans were drowning Democrats all over the country in a red wave, Rossi managed to lose to Patty Murray by four points in his bid for a seat in the US Senate.
That's three big losses—all to women—in six years. Though he's recently held a few special appointments in the legislature, Rossi's last electoral victory was in a state senate race in 1996. Which means Rossi's last "win" is old enough to drink.
"Is the argument for Dino Rossi basically that, by the law of averages, he has to win something eventually?" the Washington Post's Dave Weigel quipped on Twitter during Rossi's 2010 Senate run. Dino Rossi apparently thinks so. That's why this anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-immigrant, pro-gun, three-time loser is running again.
This time Rossi is running for a US House seat—for Washington's 8th Congressional District—and this race may be Rossi's best chance for a win since 2004. Winning a congressional district is easier than winning a state seat, Rossi has lived in the district for a long time, and he took the district by roughly 10 points in the Senate race he lost to Murray. All the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination are first-timers, which means Rossi will be running against an amateur politician. Rossi is also a rich motherfucker with good name ID, a "thousand-watt smile," and an established network of donors who feel like they want to give their guy the win he's "deserved" for so long.
So if you're a dedicated member of the local #resistance who knows we can begin to hold President Donald Trump accountable only by electing a Democratic majority to Congress in 2018—or even if you're a busy person who wants to help but doesn't know how—the most important thing you can do between now and November is work to defeat Dino Rossi. Despite Rossi's advantages, nonpartisan political analysts rate Washington's 8th Congressional District a "toss-up," and it's the closest, most flippable district near Seattle.
Welcome to the 8th Congressional District, just a 30-minute drive from downtown Seattle! The Cascade Mountains cut this region in half, which makes it (sort of) a microcosm of the state. To the west of the mountains we have the suburbs of Auburn, Issaquah, and Sammamish, where Rossi owns a nice house in a country club. Movers and shakers around here include tech workers, Boeing engineers, and veterans spilling over from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. To the east we have Ellensburg, Wenatchee, and Chelan. This is a fruit-growing region with a few universities and large hospitals. These folks care about taxes, health care, and immigration.
Former King County sheriff Dave Reichert has represented this district for the last 14 years. But after Trump's election put pressure on Reichert to actually meet with his own constituents and hold town halls for once in his do-nothing career, Reichert announced he wouldn't seek reelection in 2018. The race to fill Reichert's seat will be the most closely watched contest in Washington during the 2018 election cycle.
https://www.thestranger.com/features/2018/05/23/26381494/the-loser
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