Doug Cloud (born 1957) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

, best known for running for

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

Washington's 6th congressional district Washington's 6th congressional district encompasses the Olympic Peninsula, the Kitsap Peninsula, and most of the city of Tacoma. Its counties include the entirety of Clallam, Kitsap, Mason, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor counties, and part of ...

five times since 2004.

Early life and education

Cloud graduated from

Fife High School Fife High School is located in Fife, Washington. FHS is the only high school in the Fife Public Schools system. History Fife High School, founded on December 23, 1899, initially consisted of the upper grades of the general Fife School. In 1904, ...

and received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

before going on to earn a J.D. from the

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The school is fully accredited by the American Bar Asso ...

Career

Legal work

Cloud began his legal career working as a prosecutor for Pierce County and

Kitsap County Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...

before opening a

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

based law firm in 1992.

Political campaigns

Cloud, a Republican, has faced longtime congressman

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 ...

in the general election from Washington's 6th congressional district in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. His best showing was in 2010 when he received 42 percent of the vote. During that campaign he raised just short of $120,000 (40 percent of which was self-financed), being easily bested by Dicks who received $1.4 million in campaign donations. Cloud's worst performance was in 2006 when he earned less than 30-percent of the vote. In 2012, following Dicks' retirement, he again sought election from the sixth district but was eliminated in the primary. After his defeat in 2010, Cloud sued the U.S. government over the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

's rejection of a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

request his campaign had filed regarding a federal investigation into Dicks. Cloud had asked for the investigative files of an FBI inquiry into Dicks' involvement with PMA Group, a lobbying firm accused of influence buying. The FBI had rejected the request on the grounds that fulfilling it would constitute an invasion of Dicks' privacy. The cornerstone of many of Cloud's past campaigns has been his opposition to the use of earmarks. He has made a special point of drawing attention to federal funding of the Puget Sound Partnership, a Washington state environmental agency formerly led by Dicks' son. "He icksused his power to set up multimillion-dollar funding to provide his kids with jobs duplicative of existing agencies," Cloud has criticized. Dicks has defended himself by asking "why should we send people o Congressif they don't do something to help their district?" Cloud has also called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and increased enforcement of federal immigration law. He has signed the "taxpayer-protection pledge" circulated by

Americans for Tax Reform Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to contr ...

. In addition to his frequent campaigns for a seat in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, Cloud sought appointment to the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

in 2013 to fill a vacancy created by the election of

Jan Angel Janice E. Angel (born 1946) is an American politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the Washington's 26th legislative district, 26th district from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States ...

to the

Washington Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

. He came in last place in a selection vote by local Republican leadership to succeed to the seat; Jesse Young was chosen by resolution of Kitsap County board of commissioners and Pierce County council from a list of recommendations provided by Republicans.

Personal life

Cloud is married with three children and lives in

Gig Harbor, Washington Gig Harbor () is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County, Washington (state), Washington. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Gig Harbor bills ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cloud, Doug Living people People from Gig Harbor, Washington University of Washington School of Law alumni Washington (state) Republicans University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni 1957 births