Following the recent redistricting process, the 2nd Congressional District will soon include large portions of south Snohomish County including Lynnwood, Brier and Mountlake Terrace.
Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., who has represented the district for 12 years, has a list of things he can and can’t do under election laws: He can go doorbelling in the new district, but he can’t hold town halls.
Larsen’s political director Brooke Davis emphasized that 1st District Congressman Jay Inslee, who is running for governor, remains south Snohomish County’s representative until the districts change in January.
Larsen plans to run again for the district’s Congressional seat this fall. So far, he has no announced opposition. John Koster, the Republican Snohomish County councilman who ran against Larsen in both 2000 and 2010, is now in the 1st District.
Snohomish County Republican state committeewoman Olga Farnam said that one potential Republican challenger to Larsen has talked about running, but she can’t say who it is.
Davis said that Larsen’s not taking the race for granted. His aides walked the new parts of the district last weekend on his behalf.
In the newly formed district, Larsen will need to campaign over a spread-out area for the August primary and November general election, but Davis said that he is accustomed to campaigning over a big district.
The district has included the area from Everett to the Canadian border, but, with redistricting, will include western Snohomish County except for Edmonds, plus the western parts of Skagit and Whatcom counties, and all of Island and San Juan counties.
The 1st Congressional District will include the inland parts of Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, and the King County communities of Bothell, Woodinville, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Duvall and Carnation. Since Inslee is running for governor, it’s an open seat that has attracted Koster as well as multiple Democratic candidates.
Edmonds and Woodway will become part of the 7th Congressional District, which Democrat Jim McDermott has represented since 1988.
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