Congressman White, Wife File For Divorce

Marital dissolution papers for Republican Rep. Rick White and his wife, Vikki, were filed Thursday in Kitsap County Superior Court, four months after an announcement that the couple were separating.

Married in 1982, the Whites have four children. Their youngest, 5-year-old Richard, was featured last year in his father’s political commercials.

“It’s in the hands of the lawyers now but my sense is the action won’t be (contested),” said Randy Pepple, White’s chief of staff.

White, who lives on Mercer Island, did not move his family to Washington, D.C., when he was elected to Congress in 1994. Sources close to the couple have cited the pressures of a cross-country marriage and the constant time demands placed on a House member.

The dissolution is the first marital split in Washington’s congressional delegation since Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott and his wife, Virginia, divorced more than seven years ago.

White has been mentioned as a challenger to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in 1998, but last week indicated he will concentrate on developing his issue expertise in the House.

Divorce was once considered a major threat to political careers, and became an issue in the 1950s when a divorced man - Adlai Stevenson - was twice the Democratic presidential nominee.

While marital infidelity has recently intruded on presidential politics, divorce has shrunk to insignificance.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan became the first divorced man to serve as president.

The divorce and remarriage of Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole was barely mentioned last year, even though Dole was running as a defender of traditional family values.

White has been open about his marital difficulties. Aides contacted political reporters in March to say that the Whites were “living apart” and reported the filing of dissolution papers Thursday.