Suzan Del Bene - Congressional Campaigns

Congressional Campaigns

2010

in 2010 Suzan DelBene ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat against the incumbent in the 8th Congressional District, Dave Reichert, a Republican. According to DelBene's campaign website, the economy was her top priority. DelBene earned the endorsements of the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, as well as several Democratic politicians.

DelBene faced Reichert in the general election, after coming in 2nd in the primary voting. In Washington, the top two advance. DelBene lost to Reichert in the general election on November 2. She was subsequently named Washington State Revenue Director by Governor Christine Gregoire on November 30, 2010.

2012

DelBene ran for Congress again in 2012. DelBene won the Democratic nomination for the newly drawn 1st District, previously represented by Jay Inslee, which became more competitive due to redistricting. Inslee had resigned in March to focus on his ultimately successful campaign for governor. DelBene ran in two elections that day against Republican John Koster--a special election for the last two months of Inslee's seventh term (and held in the boundaries of the old 1st), and a regular election for a full two-year term. She defeated Koster in both elections, winning the special election with 60 percent of the vote and the regular election with 54 percent of the vote. Her victory margin in the regular election was wider than expected, considering that the district was about six points less Democratic than its predecessor. On November 13, 2012, she was sworn in as the district's Representative in the remainder of the 112th Congress, giving her a leg up in seniority over all but a few other congressmen first elected in 2012.

Del Bene spent $2.8 million of her own money in a race in which she raised over $4 million dollars, according to in a Congressional race that became the most expensive in Washington state history.