Democrat Heck advances in WA 3rd District race

OLYMPIA — Democrat Denny Heck has advanced to the November ballot in his bid for the seat of retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Brian Baird. With 65 percent of the expected vote counted tonight, Heck led with 31 percent of the vote. Coming in a close second in early returns was Republican state Rep. Jaime Herrera, who had 27 percent. Republicans David Hedrick and David Castillo followed with 14 percent 12 percent, respectively. The top two vote getters in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of party. Herrera is a former aide to GOP Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and got early national buzz after six-term incumbent Baird announced his retirement last year. Castillo, a former chief of staff to the state House GOP caucus who also worked in the Bush administration, was in the race months before Baird’s announcement. Hedrick is a local activist best known for confronting Baird at a town hall meeting last year over health care reform. Herrera has raised the most money among the Republican candidates, though Castillo has garnered the support of the tea party-inspired group FreedomWorks. Heck is an Olympia businessman, former state lawmaker and founder of TVW, the state’s public affairs network. The politically diverse 3rd District spans southwest Washington from Olympia south to Vancouver and from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. President George Bush won the district in both 2000 and 2004. President Barack Obama won it in 2008 with 53 percent of the vote. Unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi won it in 2004 and 2008. The only Republican to hold the 3rd District seat since 1960 was Linda Smith, who won a write-in campaign during the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress. Baird was elected after Smith gave up her seat for an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. Voters will also decide the re-election bid for Republican Rep. Dave Reichert in the 8th District. In early returns tonight, Reichert led with 48 percent of the vote. Democratic challenger Suzan DelBene, a former top-level Microsoft executive, had 27 percent while another Democratic challenger, Tom Cramer, had 10 percent. The swing district includes some of the state’s richest residents, high-tech workers and blue-collar rural communities. In the 2nd District, Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen faces challenger John Koster, who has the backing of tea party activists and the endorsement of 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Larsen led with 44 percent of the vote in early returns, and Koster had 41 percent. The rest of the challengers had less than seven percent. Elsewhere in the state, Republican Reps. Doc Hastings and Cathy McMorris Rogers had solid leads in their conservative Eastern Washington districts, as did Democrats Norm Dicks, Jay Inslee, Jim McDermott and Adam Smith for their seats west of the Cascade Mountains.