Rep. Smith, seeking 8th term, faces three rivals in primary

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, a Tacoma Democrat running for his eighth term in office, faces three opponents in the Aug. 17 primary election — including a Pierce County Council member who has strong Republican backing.

A second Republican in the race ran against Smith in 2008, winning 34 percent of the vote. The third candidate represents the Green Party.

"Last April I got my 100th call: 'We need you to run for Congress,' " said Dick Muri, who was appointed to an unexpired Pierce County Council term in 2003 and has been re-elected twice.

"If there's any year I'd have a chance of winning, this would be the year," Muri said. "I'm not running against Adam Smith, I'm running against his voting record."

Two years ago, Smith defeated retired engineer James Postma with 66 percent of the vote. Postma is running again this year, along with Green Party candidate Roy Olson, who works in the state Insurance Commissioner's Office.

Smith is considered a moderate Democrat and has focused much of his work in Congress on military and national-security issues. The 9th District is home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and includes Puyallup, Federal Way and parts of Tacoma and Steilacoom.

By the end of June, Smith had raised $591,000 in campaign contributions. Muri reported raising more than $77,000, including $3,000 of his own money, while Postma had $153,000, including $150,000 of his own money. Olson said he has just one donor, who gave $100. He put $2,300 of his own money in the effort.

Adam Smith

Smith, 45, a graduate of the University of Washington law school, worked in public and private practice and served in the Washington state Senate before running for Congress in 1996.

A member of the House Armed Services Committee, he said his biggest accomplishment in his current term is the way he's interacted with constituents.

"With the downturn of the economy and people being so skeptical about Congress, I've had town halls and I've listened to people and learned from them," Smith said. "In tough times, it's more important you listen."

After sitting on the fence for weeks, he supported the health-care overhaul that Democrats passed in March. Although the bill wasn't perfect, he said, it would do a better job controlling costs than the version approved by the House — with his vote — last November.

He supports the war in Afghanistan and voted for the new financial regulations that President Obama signed into law last week.

"It is clear that our financial system is in dire need of reform," Smith said. "The serious abuses that have come to light in the last few years are of great concern and we must change how Wall Street does business."

Smith also is co-chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate, pro-growth Democrats who say they stress fiscal responsibility.

He said he understands the district now as much as he ever has.

"I have to earn their support every time," he said. "I know there's a lack of trust, but I'm not like that. I'm committed to the district, not just cursing the darkness. We need to find the light switches."

Dick Muri

Muri, 56, from Steilacoom, said he likes Smith personally but opposes his record and the Democratic agenda.

"He doesn't seem to have the guts to say, "sorry, we ran out of money a long time ago,' " Muri said. "He's a good man, but he doesn't fit the district well."

Muri calls himself a "pragmatic conservative" and said Smith simply has been in office too long.

Muri, who retired as a lieutenant colonel after 22 years in the Air Force, said his key issue is fiscal accountability. He said the government has to stop spending money it doesn't have on things it doesn't need.

He said the 9th District has one of the nation's largest number of veterans and he, as a veteran, is better suited to understand their needs.

He supports the controversial Arizona immigration law and wishes more states, including Washington, would follow it. "Every state should make sure everyone who lives there is legal. When illegal activity is condoned or looked aside, lawlessness becomes the law of the land."

Muri said he is running his campaign largely on Facebook and the Internet. If elected, he said, voters shouldn't expect him to "bring home the bacon."

"That carcass was picked clean a long time ago," he said.

James Postma

Postma, 75, said he considers his race this year a continuation of the campaign from 2008, when he won more than a third of the votes.

The economy and jobs are his main issues, along with immigration (he supports the Arizona law), and health care. He said the economic-stimulus program should be repealed, along with the new health-care law.

"Adam Smith voted for these bad bills," Postma said. "This is a swing district. He talks like a conservative or moderate but votes for the Democratic Party. He's not a moderate."

Postma, who said he is pro-gun and anti-abortion, said he's not a tea-party candidate but supports the movement.

The Steilacoom resident said that when he ran two years ago, many voters were undecided and Smith got swept back into office with Obama and the Democrats.

"When (Sarah) Palin was riding high, I was ahead," he said. "This race is still under the radar. Both parties are ignoring it."

Roy Olson

Olson, the Green Party candidate, works as an actuary in the state Insurance Commissioner's Office.

"I'm at a stage in my career when I'm approaching retirement," said Olson, 64. "So I approached the Greens to see if they were running someone. They weren't so I didn't see any reason not to run myself."

Olson said he was disappointed the health-care bill didn't contain a single-payer provision. He said he wants to tax job exports so companies don't profit by sending jobs overseas, and supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Olson opposes war spending but doesn't consider himself a pacifist.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com