SEATTLE – Democrats snared control of one half of Congress in convincing fashion Tuesday, winning nearly every key showdown with Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Months of predictions proved true as voters turned on Republicans in an election perceived as a referendum on President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq and the GOP’s running of Congress.
Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., who was leading handily in his race and whose district covers parts of Snohomish County, said Demo-crats would interpret the outcome as an appeal from voters for less bickering and more legislating.
“It is a time for responsibility, not revenge,” said Inslee, one of the harshest critics of the president’s energy policies and conduct of the Iraq war.
“There has been a cloud of fear in this country,” Inslee said at the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle, where leaders of the state Democratic Party gathered. “Now it’s the time for hope and optimism in this country.”
The long predicted political earthquake struck early with Republican losses in races in Ohio and Rhode Island, and the setbacks kept coming throughout the evening.
Even with outcomes unknown in several close races, Democrats led in enough races to capture a majority of the 235 seats in the House and regain control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.
In the Senate, Democrats were winning several seats but by press time could not claim enough victories to cinch a majority.
Tuesday’s temblor did little to disrupt the composition of Washington’s congressional delegation. By press time, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and the nine members of Congress – six Democrats and three Republicans – all led their races for re-election.
In Bellingham, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., savored an election victory that will give him his first opportunity to be a member of the majority party.
“It feels great,” he said. “Democrats in the majority is a rejection of the status quo and a signal the American people want to see a new direction.
“Democrats are not going to focus on getting even but on helping the American people,” he said.
Larsen was well ahead of Republican Doug Roulstone in the 2nd Congressional District.
Larsen, 41, a native of Arlington, was seeking a fourth term serving residents from Mukilteo north to the Canadian border.
Roulstone, 57, of Snohomish is a retired Navy captain and a small-business owner making his first run for office.
His candidacy drew a lot of interest from the Republican Party’s national leaders. Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were among the political luminaries who campaigned for Roulstone in Everett.
While he managed to raise $600,000, Roulstone could never inspire the district’s Republican and moderate voters in the way he hoped.
“We obviously came up on the short end at this point,” he said from his headquarters in Everett. “This is not it. This just might be the first 23 months of a 48-month campaign.”
Inslee was easily defeating Republican Larry Ishmael in the 1st Congressional District that includes southern Snohomish County and parts of King and Kitsap counties.
Inslee, 55, of Bainbridge Island was seeking a fifth term in office. He barely campaigned, instead focusing on aiding Democrat Darcy Burner and passing Initiative 937 that directs large utilities to use more alternative sources of power.
Ishmael, 54, of Redmond is an international business consultant. He resigned from the Issaquah School Board and moved into the district to run against Inslee.
Democrats’ overthrow of Republicans on Tuesday will give the state’s Democrat-dominated congressional delegation a louder voice and a greater influence in lawmaking.
“We gained a lot of clout,” King County Executive Ron Sims said at Cantwell’s party in Seattle. “Now coming from a blue state counts.”
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., the most liberal member of the delegation, said Tuesday’s election restores a check and balance with the executive branch on critical issues like the war in Iraq.
“This will help to re-establish the American people’s faith in the political system,” he said.
“It will be a much different Congress in tone and it will be a much different Congress in policy,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy.”
In Snohomish County, all eyes will be on the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness. In past years, the Senate approved it, but it’s been blocked from a vote by the GOP-controlled House.
“Passing Wild Sky and creating the first new piece of wilderness in 20 years in the state is a top priority,” said Larsen, the primary author of the legislation.
For the state of Washington, House Democrats hope to make the sales-tax deduction permanent, obtain larger sums for highway projects and vigorously pursue alternative sources of energy such as wind and wave power.
Nationally, the Democrats said the agenda includes boosting the federal minimum wage, increasing the amount of scholarship dollars for college students and lowering prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com
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