Washington's 8th congressional district

"WA-8" redirects here. The term may also refer to Washington State Route 8.

Washington's 8th congressional district is a district for the United States House of Representatives located in western Washington State. It includes the eastern portions of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and crosses the Cascade mountains to include Chelan and Kittitas counties. The district's western part includes the exurban communities of Sammamish, Issaquah, and Maple Valley but does not include Seattle and Tacoma's more immediate suburbs. On its east side, the 8th's population centers include the rural communities Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and Ellensburg.^[4] It is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Kim Schrier, who was first elected to the seat in 2018.

Washington's 8th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 (King County highlighted, where most of the district's population resides)
Representative	Kim Schrier D–Sammamish
Area	7,359.70 sq mi (19,061.5 km2)
Distribution	83.4% urban 16.6% rural
Population (2023)	778,099[1]
Median household income	$119,057[2]
Ethnicity	69.1% White 10.5% Hispanic 9.8% Asian 6.6% Two or more races 2.0% Black 1.9% other
Cook PVI	D+1[3]

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Results
1984	President	Reagan 62 - 37%
1988	President	Bush 56 - 43%
1992	President	Clinton 38 - 34%
1996	President	Clinton 47 - 41%
2000	President	Gore 49 - 47%
2004	President	Kerry 51 - 48%
2008	President	Obama 57 - 42%
2012	President	Obama 50 - 48%
2016	President	Clinton 48 - 45%
2020	President	Biden 52 - 45%

History

The 8th district was created after redistricting cycle after the 1980 census. For its first 30 years, it was centered on the Eastside region of the Seattle metropolitan area. After the 2010 U.S. census, the state responded to population changes by shifting much of the Eastside to the 9th district. To make up for the loss in population, areas east of the Cascades were shifted to the 8th district.

For the first 35 years of its existence, the 8th district was held by a Republican. It was located in an area that was historically the most Republican portion of the Seattle area. However, it was swept up in the larger Democratic trend in the Pacific Northwest since the 1990s, and has supported the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1992. Prior to the 2011 redistricting, the district had the peculiarity of having a Democratic advantage according to its Cook PVI, but only having elected Republicans to Congress throughout its history. After the district was pushed east of the Cascades with the 2010 redistricting, its PVI became even. The GOP winning streak ended with the 2018 election.

The district from 2003 to 2013

The district from 2013 to 2023

Recent election results

2004

In 2004, Dave Reichert, at the time serving as the sheriff of King County, beat his Democratic opponent Dave Ross by 52% to 48% in the race to replace 12-year incumbent Jennifer Dunn; that year, voters in the district favored Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Washington's 8th congressional district election, 2004)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert	173,298	51.50
	Democratic	Dave Ross	157,148	46.70
	Libertarian	Spencer Garrett	6,053	1.80
Total votes			336,499	100.00
	Republican hold

2006

Responding to Reichert's perceived vulnerability, former Microsoft program manager Darcy Burner (D) challenged Rep. Reichert in 2006, in what was widely expected to be a close election. Influential election analyst Charlie Cook listed the contest among 68 competitive or potentially competitive House races to watch in 2006, categorizing it as a "toss-up" (defined as "the most competitive; Either party has a good chance of winning").^[5] Burner was one of 22 House challengers selected by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for fundraising assistance with its "Red to Blue" program, aimed at unseating vulnerable Republican incumbents around the country.^[6]

In the end, Reichert won re-election, defeating Burner by just 7,341 votes out of more than 250,000 cast.^[7] The outcome of the race was not decided for almost a week after the election, as severe flooding in the eastern part of the district delayed the counting of absentee ballots.^[8]

Washington's 8th congressional district election, 2006)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (inc.)	129,362	51.46
	Democratic	Darcy Burner	122,021	48.54
Total votes			251,383	100.00
	Republican hold

2008

In the 2008 election, Reichert faced Burner again in a rematch that many election watchers again described as one of the nation's hottest contests. This time, Reichert defeated Burner 53 percent to 47 percent, a solid victory despite Barack Obama's 15-point margin in the district.

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 19, 2008^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert	74,140	48.54%
	Democratic	Darcy Burner	68,010	44.53%
	Democratic	James E. Vaughn	5,051	3.31%
	Independent	Richard Todd	2,116	1.39%
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	1,886	1.23%
	Independent	Boleslaw Orlinski	1,523	1.00%
Total votes			152,726	100%

Washington's 8th congressional district general election, November 4, 2008^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert	191,568	52.78%
	Democratic	Darcy Burner	171,358	47.22%
Total votes			362,926	100%

2010

In the 2010 election, Reichert and Democrat Suzan DelBene advanced out of the Washington State Top 2 Primaries with 47.2% and 26.9% of the vote, respectively. Reichert prevailed over DelBene in the General Election 52.1% to 47.9%. In this election, Reichert won both King and Pierce counties even after losing some key endorsements, including the Seattle Times, which endorsed Suzan DelBene and Tim Dillon in the primaries.^[11][12]

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 17, 2010^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	76,118	47.23
	Democratic	Suzan DelBene	43,272	26.85
	Democratic	Tom Cramer	15,313	9.50
	Republican	Ernest Huber	9,376	5.82
	Republican	Tim Dillon	8,291	5.14
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	3,405	2.11
	Independent	Robin Adair	2,648	1.64
	Democratic	Boleslaw (John) Orlinski	1,761	1.09
	Independent	Caleb Love Mardini	987	0.61
Total votes			161,171	100.00

Washington's 8th congressional district general election, November 2, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	161,296	52.05
	Democratic	Suzan DelBene	148,581	47.95
Total votes			309,877	100.00

2012

In the 2012 election, Reichert ran against Democrat Karen Porterfield, Associate Dean and Public Administration Lecturer at Seattle University. James Windle of Snoqualmie Pass also ran against Reichert as an independent candidate, but dropped out of the race in August 2012.^[14]

Washington 8th Congressional District - 6 November 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (Incumbent)	180,204	59.7
	Democratic	Karen Porterfield	121,886	40.3
Total votes			302,090	100.0

2014

In the 2014 election, Reichert defeated Democrat Jason Ritchie, a small business owner from Issaquah.

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 5, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	66,715	62.5
	Democratic	Jason Ritchie	30,759	28.8
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	9,273	8.7
Total votes			105,746	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	125,741	63.3
	Democratic	Jason Ritchie	73,003	36.7
Total votes			198,744	100.0
	Republican hold

2016

In the 2016 election, Reichert defeated Democrat Tony Ventrella, a former sportscaster. Ventrella did not think he would beat the other candidates in the field and dropped out in July 2016 only to finish second overall and restart his campaign in the general election.^[15]

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 2nd, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	73,600	56.8
	Democratic	Tony Ventrella	22,035	17.0
	Democratic	Santiago Ramos	17,900	13.8
	Democratic	Alida Skold	10,825	8.4
	Independent	Keith Arnold	3,153	2.4
	Independent	Margaret M. Walsh	2,024	1.6
Total votes			129,537	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Reichert (incumbent)	193,145	60.2
	Democratic	Tony Ventrella	127,720	39.8
Total votes			320,865	100.0
	Republican hold

2018

Reichert announced in September 2017 that he would not seek re-election.^[16] Former State Senator and gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi advanced from the top-two primary alongside pediatrician Kim Schrier.^[17] In the general election, Schrier defeated Rossi with 52% of the vote to become the first Democrat to represent the district.^[18]

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 7, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dino Rossi	73,288	43.1
	Democratic	Kim Schrier	31,837	18.7
	Democratic	Jason Rittereiser	30,708	18.1
	Democratic	Shannon Hader	21,317	12.5
	Republican	Jack Hughes-Hageman	4,270	2.5
	Republican	Gordon Allen Pross	2,081	1.2
	Democratic	Tom Cramer	1,468	0.9
	Independent Centrist	Bill Grassie	1,163	0.7
	Libertarian	Richard Travis Reyes	1,154	0.7
	Independent	Keith Arnold	1,090	0.6
	Neither Major Party	Patrick Dillon	898	0.5
	No party preference	Todd Mahaffey	673	0.4
Total votes			169,947	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier	164,089	52.4
	Republican	Dino Rossi	148,968	47.6
Total votes			313,057	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2020

Schrier defeated Republican Jesse Jensen with 52% of the vote, a similar percentage as in 2018.^[19]

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 4, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	106,611	43.3
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	49,368	20.0
	Republican	Keith R. Swank	42,809	17.4
	Trump Republican Party	Dean Saulibio	28,976	11.8
	Independent	Corey Bailey	6,552	2.7
	Democratic	James Mitchell	6,187	2.5
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	4,111	1.7
	No party preference	Ryan Dean Burkett	1,458	0.6
	Write-in		289	0.1
Total votes			246,361	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2020^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	213,123	51.7
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	198,423	48.2
	Write-in		566	0.1
Total votes			412,112	100.0
	Democratic hold

2022

Schrier defeated Republican Matt Larkin with 53% of the vote.

Washington's 8th congressional district primary election, August 2, 2022^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	97,700	47.9
	Republican	Matt Larkin	34,684	17.0
	Republican	Reagan Dunn	29,494	14.4
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	26,350	12.9
	Republican	Scott Stephenson	7,954	3.9
	Democratic	Emet Ward	1,832	0.9
	Republican	Dave Chapman	1,811	0.9
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	1,669	0.8
	Libertarian	Justin Greywolf	1,518	0.7
	Independent	Ryan Burkett	701	0.3
	Independent	Patrick Dillon	296	0.1
	Write-in		122	0.1
Total votes			204,131	100.0

2022 Washington's 8th congressional district election^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	179,003	53.3
	Republican	Matt Larkin	155,976	46.4
	Write-in		1,059	0.3
Total votes			336,038	100.0
	Democratic hold

List of members representing the district

Member (District Home)	Party	Dates	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
District established January 3, 1983
Rod Chandler (Bellevue)[22]	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Retired to run for U.S. senator.	1983–1985 Parts of King and Pierce
					1985–1993 Parts of King and Pierce
Jennifer Dunn (Bellevue)[23]	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2005	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th	Elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Retired.	1993–2003 Parts of King and Pierce
					2003–2013 Parts of King and Pierce
Dave Reichert (Auburn)	Republican	January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2019	109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	Elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Retired.
					2013–2023 Chelan and Kittitas; parts of Douglas, King, and Pierce
Kim Schrier (Sammamish)	Democratic	January 3, 2019 – present	116th 117th 118th	Elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.
					2023–present Chelan and Kittitas; parts of Douglas, King, Pierce, and Snohomish

See also

• 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
• 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington

References

1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
2. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
3. "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
4. Brunner, Jim (January 11, 2012). "The new 8th district: a bridge across the state?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
5. Cook, Charlie. "2006 competitive House race chart." The Cook Political Report, October 11, 2006. (warning: PDF)
6. Hearn, Josephine. "Internal DCCC list pins hopes on 22 challengers." The Hill, April 27, 2006.
7. Office of the Washington Secretary of State. 2006 General Election Results. Accessed January 3, 2007.
8. Kapochunas, Rachel. "WA 8: GOP Survivor Reichert Prevails Over Burner." The New York Times, November 14, 2006.
9. "Congressional District 8". Secretary of State of Washington. September 4, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
10. "Congressional District 8". Secretary of State of Washington. November 26, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
11. "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest". www.seattletimes.com.
12. "Voter Portal". voter.votewa.gov.
13. "Congressional District 8". Secretary of State of Washington. September 3, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
14. Garber, Andrew (May 18, 2012). "Final filing day in state offers wealth of choices". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
15. Orenstein, Walker. "Ex-sports anchor Tony Ventrella drops out of congressional race". Retrieved August 14, 2018.
16. Weigel, David (September 6, 2017). "Dave Reichert, a swing seat Republican, will retire from the House". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
17. Brunner, Jim (August 13, 2018). "Kim Schrier edges out Jason Rittereiser to face Dino Rossi in 8th Congressional District". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
18. Brunner, Jim (November 7, 2018). "Dino Rossi concedes 8th District race to Kim Schrier as new votes widen her lead". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
19. "November 3, 2020 General Election Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
20. "August 2, 2022 Primary Results - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 8". Secretary of State of Washington. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
21. "November 8, 2022 General Election Results - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 8". Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
22. "Biographical directory of the United States Congress 1774–2005" (PDF). www.govinfo.gov. United States Congress.
23. "Late Bellevue Congresswoman Dunn Honored by Son in County DVT Awareness Month Proclamation". Bellevue, WA Patch. March 22, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2016. Jennifer Dunn, who lived in Bellevue, represented Washington's 8th District in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2004.

Sources

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Washington State Redistricting Commission
• Find your new congressional district: a searchable map, Seattle Times, January 13, 2012

47°18′N 122°06′W