John Koster is running for Congress for a third time, having lost twice to Rick Larsen. But with redrawn congressional districts, he is now in a district adjacent to Larsen’s, not running against him for the third time. Voters in the new district may not know much about John Koster, who is currently on the Snohomish County Council, after being in the state Legislature for several years.
A former dairy farmer turned politician, John Koster is a conservative Republican whose philosophy seems to be most closely allied to that of former Sen. Rick Santorum among this year’s presidential candidates. Santorum, best known for his bill to keep Terri Schiavo on life support (she had been comatose for about 7 years) was a Tea Party favorite; Koster is equally attractive to Tea Party activists. His entire political philosophy revolves around ideas that align most closely to theirs. His campaign signs pin today’s $14 trillion debt and the tentative job market entirely on the door of President Obama. He should get the votes of all those who agree with that assessment.
The new district in which Koster is running sprawls from the Canadian border down toward Kirkland, northeast of Seattle. It includes a mix for urban, suburban and rural communities, and as such is hard to define politically. Just as Koster lost narrowly in both races against Larsen, it appears that he will be in a close contest once again, this time against candidate Suzan DelBene, a former Microsoft manager, running on the Democratic ticket.
Bruce Barnbaum
Granite Falls
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