The 2008 congressional elections in Washington was held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with t ...

from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the

2008 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...

Nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan primary, top-two primary, or jungle primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of political party. This distinguishes them from partisan primaries, w ...

elections were held on August 19, 2008. Washington has nine seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of six Democrats and three

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. All of the incumbents were re-elected, with only the 8th district race being considered competitive.

District 1

Incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

has represented the 1st district in Congress since 1999. Inslee won in the 2006 election with 68% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Larry Ishmael.

Primary results

General election

District 2

Incumbent

Rick Larsen Richard Ray Larsen (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician serving as the United States representative for since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Larsen is the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committ ...

has represented the 2nd district in Congress since 2001. Larsen won in the 2006 election with 64% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Rick Bart. Two other Democrats challenged the two in the primary election, Doug Schaffer and Glen Johnson.

Primary results

General election

District 3

Incumbent

Brian Baird Brian Norton Baird (born March 7, 1956) is an American psychologist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011. After leaving the U.S. House of Representatives, he served as the ...

has represented the 3rd district in Congress since 1999. Baird won in the 2006 election with 63% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Michael Delavar. Democrat Cheryl Crist and Republican Christine Webb also entered the primary.

Primary results

General election

District 4

Incumbent Republican

Doc Hastings Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings (born February 7, 1941) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1995 unti ...

has represented the 4th district in Congress since 1995. Hastings won in the 2006 election with 60% of the vote. He was opposed by Democratic candidate George Fearing. Republican Gordon Allen Pross was eliminated in the primary.

Primary results

General election

District 5

Incumbent Republican

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest cit ...

has represented the 2nd district in Congress since 2005. Rodgers was elected in 2006 with 56% of the vote. She was opposed by Democratic candidate Mark Mays. Barbara Lampert of the Democratic party, Republican Kurt Erickson,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

John Beck and

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

candidate Randall Yearout were eliminated in the primary.

Primary results

General election

District 6

Incumbent

Norm Dicks Norman DeValois Dicks (born December 16, 1940) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for , between 1977 and 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district was located in the northwestern corner of ...

has represented the 6th district in Congress since 1977. Dicks won in the 2006 election with 71% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate Doug Cloud.

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

candidate Gary Murrell and Democrat Paul Richmond also entered the primary.

Primary results

General election

District 7

Incumbent

Jim McDermott James Adelbert McDermott (born December 28, 1936) is an American politician and psychiatrist who was the U.S. representative for from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th district includes most of Seattle, Vashon Is ...

has represented the 7th district in Congress since 1989. McDermott won in the 2006 election with 79% of the vote in the most Democratic district in the state. He was opposed by Republican candidate Steve Beren. Democrats Donovan Rivers and

Goodspaceguy Michael George Goodspaceguy Nelson (born Michael George Nelson), known mononymously as Goodspaceguy, is an American perennial candidate from Washington state. Early life and education Born Michael George Nelson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Goodsp ...

entered the primary, as well as independents Mark Goldman and Al Schaefer.

Primary results

General election

District 8

Incumbent Republican

Dave Reichert David George Reichert ( ; born August 29, 1950) is an American retired police officer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2019. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he served as the sheriff of King Count ...

has represented the 8th district in Congress since 2005. Reichert won in the 2006 election with 51.5% of the vote. He was opposed by Democratic candidate

Darcy Burner Darcy Gibbons Burner (born November 12, 1970) is an American businesswoman and politician and a member of the Democratic Party from Carnation, Washington. Early life, education, and family Burner was adopted at birth in Alaska and grew up in a ...

. The primary also included Democrats James Vaughn and Keith Arnold, and Independents Richard Todd and Boleslaw Orlinski. The District 8 race was considered competitive: it voted for Obama by a large margin and had a Cook PVI of D+2. It was rated "toss up" by Cook, "no clear favorite" by CQ Politics and "toss up/tilt Republican" by Rothenberg.2008 House Ratings
from ''The Rotherberg Political Report'', July 4, 2008

Primary results

General election

District 9

Incumbent

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

has represented the 9th district in Congress since 1997. Smith won in the 2006 election with 66% of the vote. He was opposed by Republican candidate James Postma.

Primary results

General election

References

External links

Elections
from the ''Washington Secretary of State''

Map of districtsU.S. Congress candidates for Washington
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Washington U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Washington congressional races
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

NWProgressive Institute blog on candidates
* {{2008 United States elections

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...