Kreidler Won’t Seek Old House Seat

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Kreidler said Friday he will not seek to reclaim the House seat lost to Republican Randy Tate in 1994.

Kreidler, a Democrat, said he would stay with his new job on the Northwest Power Planning Council in order to “help determine the future of the Bonneville Power Administration and preserve the public goods embodied by the BPA.”

Kreidler never formally announced he would take on Tate, of Puyallup, for the 9th District seat, but told reporters as recently as September that he planned to do so.

Kreidler, of Lacey, served one term in Congress, 1992-1994, after serving 16 years in the state Legislature.

State Sen. Adam Smith, D-SeaTac, has announced he is running for Tate’s seat.

The Democratic Party has targeted the seat as one it stands a chance of winning back after Republicans grabbed seven of Washington’s nine U.S. House seats in 1994.