Michael Delavar

Rick Bart (R-Arlington): Politicker photoA number of Washington's congressional challengers have, in lieu of being able to vote, issued their own statements on Monday's failed bailout. Ironically, the only instance in which challenger and incumbent agreed was in the deadlocked 8th District, where Darcy Burner (D-Carnation) and Rep. Dave Reichert both opposed the bill.

Burner's statement focused on the need for accountability, and said she would refuse to hand over a "blank check" to Wall Street.

Reichert, who voted "no", told PolitickerWA.com yesterday that the bill was put together too hastily.

"I just feel like this was a rush," he said. "I don't totally trust the process that we have gone through for the last seven to eight days."

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver): Getty Images PhotoDENVER -Taking a moment to switch gears from the hoopla of the national convention to the nuts and bolts of state politics, Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) predicted that Southwest Washington would pick up a few seats for Democrats in the state House and Senate this November.

"I think we have a real shot at picking up a seat in the 17th," Baird said. "I think Tim Probst is going to win that seat. I think we have a great shot in the 18th. I like our candidate there VaNessa Duplessie, running against [Rep. Jaime] Herrera who has never been elected herself, really has hardly been in the district the last ten years. Vanessa is hard working, sharp, articulate, a real go getter."

Baird was also pleasantly surprised to see David Carrier running relatively close to Sen. Don Benton in the 17th District, and Jon Haugen within ten points of Sen. Joe Zarelli in LD 18.

The voters of the 3rd Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) has drawn three challengers heading into next week's "top two" primary, will have their chance to vote a mixture of political ideology and war on both sides of the aisle. The reason being, each of the two major parties has two candidates with varying viewpoints on Iraq. Adam Wilson in The Olympian has a story about it today.

Within the Democratic Party, Baird has drawn a challenge from peace activist Cheryl Crist (D-Olympia) who also ran in 2004 and garnered 15 percent of the primary vote.

The Republicans meanwhile, have Michael Delavar (R-Washougal) who opposes the occupation squaring off against the pro-war and pro-surge Christine Webb (R-Tumwater).

NAPAVINE -

According to banners hanging from every streetlight in town, Napavine is Tiger Country. But Saturday afternoon the local high school gymnasium, where the Tigers play basketball Delegates seek support at Napavine High School/Politicker Photoevery winter, was also home to the 3rd Congressional District Democratic caucus. At the caucus, five delegates, two males and three females, would be elected to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer to elect the party's nominee.

But he delegate contest was not the day's only vote. With the advent of the state's "top two" primary that effectively ends the Party primary system, the Democrats' official nominee for Congress was also decided at the caucus. Rep. Brian Baird, the five term congressman from Vancouver, won his party's nomination by a vote of 59 to 24 over fellow Democrat Cheryl Crist.

The Republican candidate for Congress in the 3rd District, Washougal's Michael Delavar, flies planes for a living. He is also an accomplished ballroom dancer who cultivates bonsai and spends a lot of his spare time chasing around his two young boys. Flying, dancing, and parenting all add up to a lot of motion, and coincidentally it is the downward motion of the U.S. dollar, among other things, that has helped to prompt the novice politician into the big leagues of running for U.S.

Beginning Monday morning, PolitickerWA will launch a series of profiles of the nine candidates who have announced their intention to challenge an incumbent member of Congress in 2008. Every weekday morning for the next nine days PolitickerWA will publish a profile of a challenger. The schedule, which starts in Eastern Washington and moves counterclockwise around the state, is below:  read more »