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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Rep. Rick Larsen and former sheriff Rick Bart advance in 2nd Congressional District race By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen appeared headed for an easy victory in Tuesday's primary and will face former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart in November. Larsen, D-Wash., racked up 55.6 percent of votes tallied Tuesday in the six counties comprising the 2nd Congressional District he represents. Bart had a firm grip on the second spot with 36.5 percent. Democrats Doug Schaffer of Snohomish and Glen Johnson of Mount Vernon collected 4.9 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. Final results won't be known for several days when all ballots are counted. Larsen, 43, is seeking a fifth term serving a district that stretches from Mukilteo to the Canadian border and takes in all of Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan counties and parts of Snohomish and King counties. "I'm not taking anything for granted," Larsen said Tuesday night. "You always have to run scared but I feel I am in a good position to continue to represent the district." Bart, 60, served three terms as county sheriff before departing office because of term limits. He entered this race at the behest of Republican leaders, including gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi. He is not getting anywhere near the financial support that the GOP provided Larsen's opponent in 2006. Then, candidate Doug Roulstone had raised $603,000 by the time of the primary, aided by fundraising events featuring Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Bart began July with no cash after having raised and had spent $31,500 to that point, while Larsen's fundraising had passed the $1 million mark. For Bart, the difficulty in building resources made him openly cautious about his chances of advancing Tuesday in which the new primary system would send the two candidates with the most votes to November, regardless of their party preference. Bart obviously benefited from being the only Republican on the ballot, plus had better name recognition among voters than the other two challengers. Schaffer, 59, owner of a management consultant firm, was making his first run for office and hoped to tap a reservoir of independent-minded voters in order to win. Though the ballot said he prefers Democratic Party, he insisted he was running as an independent to "provide a choice" to those displeased with the actions of the two major parties. Johnson, 53, who owns Mother Flight Farm in Mount Vernon, was making his second run against Larsen. In 2000, he competed on the Natural Law Party ticket. In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., garnered an impressive 68 percent of the vote in his head-to-head battle with Republican Larry Ishmael of Redmond. Ishmael collected 32 percent. With only two candidates in the race, both will advance setting up a rematch of their 2006 duel in the district that includes parts of Snohomish, King and Kitsap counties. Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Monroe and Bothell are in the district.

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