After losing Legislature, Marine aims for Congress

By Susanna Ray

Herald Writer

MUKILTEO — Joe Marine is climbing back up on the political horse.

The Republican insurance agent from Mukilteo announced Wednesday that he will challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee in this fall’s election.

Marine is fresh from a failed campaign last fall to keep his legislative seat. He was appointed last year to represent the 21st Legislative District in southwest Snohomish County after Rep. Renee Radcliff resigned for personal reasons. He only got to serve one year before Mukilteo Democrat Brian Sullivan defeated him out in a special election by 55 percent to 42 percent.

"I think it surprises people that I’m willing to come out of such a contentious race and step right into another one," Marine said. "But that’s my nature. I’d rather get back on the horse and try again."

Brett Bader, a prominent Republican consultant from Bellevue, said Marine will have to run his campaign differently this time to win.

"I don’t think there’s anything wrong with running after losing, as long as you don’t make the same mistakes twice," Bader said.

Inslee, who himself lost a congressional seat in Eastern Washington and a gubernatorial bid before winning his 1st District seat in 1998, said the announcement doesn’t change anything for him.

"I suppose they were going to have to get somebody to run," he said.

Marine said he was recruited by the Republican Party and has its full support.

Marine didn’t live in the 1st District until Jan. 1, when the district boundaries were redrawn to account for population shifts. The new lines moved his Mukilteo home out of the 2nd District, where there are already three Republicans running for Congress, and into the 1st District, where only one other Republican, Brent Samodurov of Mountlake Terrace, has announced plans to try to unseat Inslee.

Samodurov didn’t return a call Wednesday evening.

The latest financial records show that Inslee had nearly $300,000 in his campaign war chest at year’s end. Marine said he hasn’t raised any money yet, "but we’re just out of the chute."

First, he plans to fly to Washington, D.C., on Monday for some "candidate training."

You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 360-586-3803 or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com.

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