Gop Conservative Expected To Launch Senate Challenge Linda Smith To Announce Race Against Murray In Three Cities Monday

U.S. Rep. Linda Smith has scheduled a statewide series of news conferences for Monday, amid reports she will announce she is running for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s seat.

Smith, a conservative Republican who sponsored the state’s spending-limits and campaign-spending initiatives that voters approved, has made no secret that she’s itching for a matchup against Murray, a liberal Seattle-area Democrat who is serving her first term.

Smith was unavailable for comment Friday, but one longtime supporter, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said “That is her announcement swing.”

Smith will announce her political plans Monday morning at a news conference near Seattle’s Space Needle, zip across to Spokane for a noontime reprise, and will wrap up the day in her hometown of Vancouver. It would be virtually unheard of to schedule such a three-city press event for anything but an announcement of candidacy.

“She’s definitely in,” state Sen. James West, R-Spokane, said in a recent interview.

Friends and colleagues on both coasts, including last year’s GOP nominee for governor, Ellen Craswell, said Friday that they fully expect her to jump into the race.

“If she’s our nominee, she’ll be a very effective, very hard-working candidate who can connect with people because she is so plain-spoken and passionate in her opinions,” said state Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald, R-Bellevue.

State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, one of several candidates already considering a race for Smith’s 3rd District congressional seat, said Smith gives the unmistakable impression she’s running for the Senate.

GOP political consultant Brett Bader said Smith has a broad army of political backers from her earlier statewide initiative campaigns, but is unlikely to get the party nomination next year without a fight.

One of Smith’s congressional colleagues, also a woman, is prominent in the speculation - former state Republican Chairwoman Jennifer Dunn. In a recent interview, she said she will make her decision in a few weeks. She said she is under heavy pressure to run, including almost daily contacts from Trent Lott, the U.S. Senate majority leader.

But Dunn also said she loves being in House leadership and that House colleagues constantly remind her that if she stays put, she could become the first woman speaker of the House.

Most insiders figure she won’t seek the Senate nomination.

U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, a Spokane lawyer, says he’ll consider a race if Dunn is out.