U.S. Senate

The only elected officials representing the entire state in Congress, senators must be at least 30 years old, citizens for nine years and residents of the state.

Both houses of Congress are responsible for passing laws, declaring war, maintaining the armed forces and setting taxes, but only the Senate must approve treaties and presidential nominations.

Term: Six years.

Annual pay: $165,200.

The Constitution doesn’t require senators to be millionaires, but both mainstream Senate candidates in Washington are.

First-term incumbent Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, made her money in the high-tech industry. Republican challenger Mike McGavick made his as chief executive officer of Safeco Insurance.

They also have political slots on their resumes. He was an aide, campaign manager and eventually chief of staff to Sen. Slade Gorton, the Republican Cantwell beat in 2000.

She was a state legislator and a one-term member of the U.S. House, ushered in with Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992 and out with the Republican takeover of 1994.

McGavick is running as much against Washington, D.C., in general as Cantwell in particular.

Although he criticizes some of her votes on tax legislation and immigration reform, he spends much of his time arguing that the system in the nation’s capital is so partisan that it’s broken and won’t be fixed until new people are sent there.

Cantwell said her vote against tax cuts, often mentioned by McGavick, was really against another part of the bill: a provision to raise the federal minimum wage that could have shrunk paychecks of Washington workers who earn part of their pay in tips.

She’s voted against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; he supports it.

He wants changes to Social Security that would allow some of the youngest workers to have separate accounts; she calls that a risky scheme to privatize Social Security.

Both had an easy time with crowded fields of minor candidates in their primaries.

Cantwell has faced criticism from some within her party for her 2003 vote that gave President Bush the green light to invade Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein.

In August she said Bush must get Iraqis more involved so U.S. troops can start leaving this year.

McGavick says it’s better to be fighting terrorists in Iraq than in the United States, and opposes any timeline for a troop withdrawal.

Robin Adair, Aaron Dixon and Bruce Guthrie are about as different as three candidates can be, but they have the same big problem: How to get attention in a statewide race dominated by big-name candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties.

Democrat Maria Cantwell, 48, of Seattle: Promises to protect seniors, students and the working class.

Republican Mike McGavick, 48, of Seattle: Promises to break what he calls the “partisan gridlock” gripping Washington, D.C.

Independent candidate Robin Adair, 63, of Seattle: She’s a former homemaker, a grandmother and an economic theorist campaigning on the economy, Social Security and global warming.

Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon, 57, of Seattle: A former Black Panther turned community activist, he wants immediate end to U.S. military actions in Iraq, closure of the military base at Guantanamo and major revisions in the Patriot Act, along with universal health care and same-sex marriage.

Libertarian candidate Bruce Guthrie, 43, of Seattle: He’s a former college business instructor and aspiring high school math and science teacher who donated nearly $1.2 million to his own campaign.

He seeks an end to the war in Iraq and reductions in U.S. troops overseas.

He supports same-sex marriage and importing pharmaceutical drugs from other countries.