Reichert leading Ross for U.S. House seat

By Warren Cornwall
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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The race earned national attention, viewed as one of the few in the country where either party had a good shot at winning. Held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn for 12 years, the district is seen as increasingly moderate.

It attracted visits from congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, including Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi.

A win for Republicans would give them a continued congressional foothold in Western Washington, and evidence that they remain a dominant force in the coveted eastern suburbs of King County.

A Democratic win would be an emphatic statement about the party's gains in traditionally conservative suburbs.

Both parties poured money into the race, with the National Republican Congressional Committee outspending the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $3.1 million to $2.3 million.

Republicans hit especially hard, with the national party sponsoring ads that accused Ross of promoting defense cuts that would "empower terrorists" and wanting to socialize medicine. One ad portrayed Ross' American vision as a desert wasteland with the Space Needle in the background.

Several Democratic observers of the race said those attacks appeared to take a toll on voters' view of Ross, causing him to slip in the polls.

Democrats fought back with a series of ads accusing Reichert of harboring a "dangerous" and "extreme" right-wing ideology. They focused on his opposition to abortion and expanded embryonic stem-cell research, and his opposition to government health-care reforms. They hoped to convince voters he was too conservative for a suburban district that includes much of East and South King County and East Pierce County.

Though both candidates survived hard-fought primaries largely on their celebrity status, they ran very different campaigns in the last month and a half.

Reichert, chisel-jawed and muscular, relied chiefly on his law-enforcement history, particularly his work helping to capture serial killer Gary Ridgway.
 
In debates, he repeatedly invoked his police work to explain how he would deal with homeland-security needs, confront terrorists and "investigate" the federal budget to save money. One television ad focused on his past work on domestic violence, a bid for women voters on an issue that speaks to Reichert's past work but has little direct bearing on federal policy.

On issues, he lined up with the conservative branch of the Republican Party, differing little with President Bush.

Reichert sought to contrast his action-hero status and seven years leading the sheriff's office with Ross' experience as a "talker" on the radio.

Ross, meanwhile, sought to turn the campaign into a race on a host of policy matters, arguing he was best suited to deal with complex issues facing Congress.

He put forth a plan to expand health care to the uninsured. Taking a page from Sen. John Kerry's campaign, he vowed to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy to fund health care for the poor and children. He called for allowing people to buy prescription drugs from Canada. He spelled out weapons systems he would cut to address the deficit, and he quizzed Reichert about Social Security.

Ross was widely regarded as a strong debater in a series of four encounters between the two, relying on skills honed from years on the radio. Reichert eventually stopped attending face-to-face events with Ross. Ross derided Reichert, saying he was shortchanging voters on chances to hear about the issues.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311