‘MAGA Republican’ looks to unseat Everett’s Larsen in Congress

EVERETT — A self-identified “MAGA Republican” is facing a longtime incumbent Democrat to represent the 2nd Congressional District.

Looking to clinch a 13th term in November, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen has doorbelled across the district to share his policy work on infrastructure, health care and the opioid crisis. The district stretches from Edmonds to the Canadian border, including parts of Snohomish County and all of Island, San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom counties.

Larsen faced seven challengers in August’s primary election. He sailed to the general with 48.1% of the vote.

Of Larsen’s challengers, Cody Hart rose to the top, with 19.8% of votes. Hart describes himself as a political outsider fed up with the traditional two-party system that “hasn’t been getting things done.” To Hart, “Make America Great Again” is “the biggest” political philosophy movement in the country. He wants to see big changes in election integrity, pharmaceutical and food regulations, and mental health services for veterans.

U.S. Representatives make $174,000 per year and are up for election every two years.

Rick Larsen

Larsen, of Everett, has a century-long family history in the district. In 1998, he joined the Snohomish County Council. Three years later, he took congressional office and is now the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Though Larsen, 59, has held the seat for most of the 21st century, he said he has “a lot of work left to do.”

This past term, Larsen helped allocate nearly $9 billion from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to projects in the state, including $179 million to Snohomish County. The money has gone to the Lynnwood Link extension and other no or low-emission transportation projects. It’s also gone to improvements at Scriber Creek Trail in Lynnwood and replacing the Edgewater Creek Bridge between Mukilteo and Everett.

If he keeps the seat, Larsen said he will vote to re-up the infrastructure law.

In January, Larsen published a report on the local opioid epidemic and a comprehensive legislative plan. In the past two months, he introduced three bills to combat the crisis. The bills include support for local law enforcement and drug task forces; more authority for tribes to combat drug trafficking; and workforce development for those in recovery. He’s also pushed for more federal funding for treatment and recovery services.

Larsen touted new laws that help Medicare negotiate lower prescription drug prices and cap insulin copays at $35. He also said he supports background checks for guns, limiting ammo magazine capacity and eliminating ghost guns.

“Thoughts and prayers are nice,” he said, “but thoughts and prayers have not done one thing to stop this violence in our communities.”

He said he plans to vote to overturn Dobbs v. Jackson, the decision that handed over abortion policymaking to states. He wants to reinstate Roe v. Wade through the Women’s Health Protection Act. He’s also supported legislation to provide in vitro fertilization services for veterans injured in combat.

Cody Hart

Hart, 49, also has a long family history in the district. He served in the Navy, then became a civil engineer and small business owner. He has three daughters in public school.

Hart has general ideas of what he would fight for as a legislator, but he said exact policy language would come later. He wants to further regulate pharmaceutical and food companies, including limiting chemicals in foods such as red dye 40. He said he would work on getting more mental health and transitional support for veterans.

In Hart’s estimation, the root of the country’s mental health crisis and declining birth rates is likely the food and pharmaceutical drug supply. Hart said former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s activism has informed his theory.

As a “proud Christian,” Hart believes in “the right for life.” He supports the Dobbs decision, and said he does believe in contraceptive drugs, in vitro fertilization and the right to an abortion “in cases of harm and life-threatening situations”.

Hart has spent his free time investigating infrastructure lawsuits and election integrity in Washington. It started in 2016 with a lawsuit against the state, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. A civil engineer firm claimed the state allowed at least 800 contractors to work on projects as engineers without licenses. Hart, who was working as an engineer at the time, was upset the state may have endangered the public.

“We pay more fixing the mistakes of government breaking its own laws than we do to actually do what should be done,” he said.

In 2021, the engineering firm won the case. In August, Hart filed an impeachment inquiry against Ferguson. Hart also said he doesn’t trust the state’s election system because it’s too centralized, and thinks the 2020 election was compromised with more than 10,000 false ballots.

Hart is not interested in more gun laws unless they’re about providing gun safety education. He believes people who commit gun violence are either mentally ill or evil.

“People are entitled to protect themselves,” he said. “That’s at the core my frustration with people who want to disarm good people, which is 99% of Americans.”

Hart also suggested Democrats aren’t doing enough about immigration because they’re “trying to bring in a generation of voters that side one party over another.”

Hart has made a point to decline donations to his campaign, criticizing other candidates and elected officials for “becoming millionaires” off of campaign support.

As of Monday, Larsen had raised more than $1.9 million. Industry contributors include oil and gas companies, hospitals, airline companies and Boeing. Larsen has more than 100 endorsements, including Gov. Jay Inslee, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and multiple gun safety and labor groups.

Hart had not filed with the Federal Election Commission, as of Monday. The commission requires candidates to file after raising or spending more than $5,000.

Ballots are due Nov. 5.

Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; X: @_sydneyajackson.