Recent History
In 2004, Reichert, at the time serving as the sheriff of King County, beat his Democratic opponent Dave Ross by 52% to 48%, a surprisingly small margin, in the race to replace 12-year incumbent Jennifer Dunn; that year, voters in the district favored Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Responding to Reichert's perceived vulnerability, former Microsoft program manager Darcy Burner (D) challenged Rep. Reichert in 2006, in what was widely expected to be a close election. Influential election analyst Charlie Cook listed the contest among 68 competitive or potentially competitive House races to watch in 2006, categorizing it as a "toss-up" (defined as "the most competitive; Either party has a good chance of winning." Burner was one of 22 House challengers selected by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for fundraising assistance with its "Red to Blue" program, aimed at unseating vulnerable Republican incumbents around the country.
In the end, Reichert won reelection, defeating Burner by just 7,341 votes out of more than 250,000 cast. The outcome of the race was not decided for almost a week after the election, as severe flooding in the eastern part of the district delayed the counting of absentee ballots.
In the 2008 election, Reichert faced Burner again in a rematch that many election watchers again described as one of the nation's hottest contests. This time, Reichert defeated Burner 53 percent to 47 percent, a solid victory despite Barack Obama' 15-point margin in the district.
In 2010, Republican Dave Reichert and Democrat Suzan DelBene advanced out of the Washington State Top 2 Primaries with 47.2% and 26.9% of the vote, respectively. The remaining votes went to Democrat Tom Cramer (9.5%), Republican Ernest Huber (5.8%), Republican Tim Dillon (5.1%) and 4 others garnering less than 2.5% each. Reichert prevailed over DelBene in the General Election by a vote of 52.1% to 47.9%. In this election, Reichert won both King and Pierce counties.
In the 2012 race James Windle of Snoqualmie Pass ran as an independent candidate against Reichert.
Read more about this topic: Washington's 8th Congressional District
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