Washington has nine seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of six Democrats and three Republicans.
All of the incumbents were re-elected, with only the 8th district race being considered competitive.
District 1
Incumbent Democrat Jay Inslee has represented the 1st district in Congress since 1999. Inslee won in the 2006 election with 68% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Larry Ishmael.
Primary results
Washington's 1st congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[2]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Jay Inslee
104,342
66.44%
Republican
Larry Ishmael
52,700
33.56%
Total votes
157,042
100%
General election
Washington's 1st congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[3]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Jay Inslee
233,780
67.76%
Republican
Larry Ishmael
111,240
32.24%
Total votes
345,020
100%
District 2
Incumbent Democrat Rick Larsen has represented the 2nd district in Congress since 2001. Larsen won in the 2006 election with 64% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Rick Bart. Two other Democrats challenged the two in the primary election, Doug Schaffer and Glen Johnson.
Primary results
Washington's 2nd congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[4]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Rick Larsen
98,304
54.33%
Republican
Rick Bart
68,189
37.69%
Democratic
Doug Schaffer
8,857
4.89%
Democratic
Glen Johnson
5,590
3.09%
Total votes
157,042
100%
General election
Washington's 2nd congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[5]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Rick Larsen
217,416
62.39%
Republican
Rick Bart
131,051
37.61%
Total votes
345,020
100%
District 3
Incumbent Democrat Brian Baird has represented the 3rd district in Congress since 1999. Baird won in the 2006 election with 63% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Michael Delavar. Democrat Cheryl Crist and Republican Christine Webb also entered the primary.
Primary results
Washington's 3rd congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[6]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Brian Baird
83,409
50.59%
Republican
Michael Delavar
32,372
19.63%
Republican
Christine Webb
27,738
16.82%
Democratic
Cheryl Crist
21,356
12.95%
Total votes
164,875
100%
General election
Washington's 3rd congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[7]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Brian Baird
216,701
64.01%
Republican
Michael Delavar
121,828
35.99%
Total votes
338,529
100%
District 4
Incumbent Republican Doc Hastings has represented the 4th district in Congress since 1995. Hastings won in the 2006 election with 60% of the vote. He was opposed by Democratic candidate George Fearing. Republican Gordon Allen Pross was eliminated in the primary.
Primary results
Washington's 4th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[8]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Doc Hastings
93,241
62.19%
Democratic
George Fearing
49,841
33.24%
Republican
Gordon Allen Pross
6,842
4.56%
Total votes
149,924
100%
General election
Washington's 4th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[9]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Doc Hastings
169,940
63.09%
Democratic
George Fearing
99,430
36.91%
Total votes
269,370
100%
District 5
Incumbent Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers has represented the 2nd district in Congress since 2005. Rodgers was elected in 2006 with 56% of the vote. She was opposed by Democratic candidate Mark Mays. Barbara Lampert of the Democratic party, Republican Kurt Erickson, Libertarian John Beck and Constitution candidate Randall Yearout were eliminated in the primary.
Primary results
Washington's 5th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[10]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
96,584
56.29%
Democratic
Mark Mays
34,251
19.96%
Democratic
Barbara Lampert
19,645
11.45%
Republican
Kurt Erickson
12,155
7.08%
Constitution
Randall Yearout
5,268
3.07%
Libertarian
John H. Beck
3,673
2.14%
Total votes
171,576
100%
General election
Washington's 5th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[11]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
211,305
65.28%
Democratic
Mark Mays
112,382
34.72%
Total votes
323,687
100%
District 6
Incumbent Democrat Norm Dicks has represented the 6th district in Congress since 1977. Dicks won in the 2006 election with 71% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Doug Cloud. Green candidate Gary Murrell and Democrat Paul Richmond also entered the primary.
Primary results
Washington's 6th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[12]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Norm Dicks
96,862
57.26%
Republican
Doug Cloud
51,300
30.33%
Democratic
Paul Richmond
14,983
8.86%
Green
Glen Johnson
6,014
3.56%
Total votes
169,159
100%
General election
Washington's 6th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[13]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Norm Dicks
205,991
66.86%
Republican
Doug Cloud
102,081
33.14%
Total votes
308,072
100%
District 7
Incumbent Democrat Jim McDermott has represented the 7th district in Congress since 1989. McDermott won in the 2006 election with 79% of the vote in the most Democratic district in the state. He was opposed by Republican candidate Steve Beren. Democrats Donovan Rivers and Goodspaceguy entered the primary, as well as independents Mark Goldman and Al Schaefer.
Primary results
Washington's 7th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[14]
Washington's 7th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[15]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Jim McDermott
291,963
83.65%
Republican
Steve Beren
57,054
16.35%
Total votes
349,017
100%
District 8
Incumbent Republican Dave Reichert has represented the 8th district in Congress since 2005. Reichert won in the 2006 election with 51.5% of the vote. He was opposed by Democratic candidate Darcy Burner. The primary also included Democrats James Vaughn and Keith Arnold, and Independents Richard Todd and Boleslaw Orlinski.
The District 8 race was considered competitive: it voted for Obama by a large margin and had a Cook PVI of D+2. It was rated "toss up" by Cook, "no clear favorite" by CQ Politics and "toss up/tilt Republican" by Rothenberg.[16][17][18]
Primary results
Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[19]
Washington's 8th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[20]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Dave Reichert
191,568
52.78%
Democratic
Darcy Burner
171,358
47.22%
Total votes
362,926
100%
District 9
Incumbent Democrat Adam Smith has represented the 9th district in Congress since 1997. Smith won in the 2006 election with 66% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate James Postma.
Primary results
Washington's 9th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008[21]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Adam Smith
81,503
64.70%
Republican
James Postma
44,472
35.30%
Total votes
125,975
100%
General election
Washington's 9th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008[22]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Adam Smith
176,295
65.45%
Republican
James Postma
93,080
34.55%
Total votes
269,375
100%
References
^Top 2 Primary: FAQs for Voters Washington Secretary of State