"Who Will Replace McDermott?"

Jeff Stevens (Eat The State!):

As yet another Congressional election approaches, many Seattle-area voters may once again be asking a question that’s likely been asked among local politicos many times in recent years: Who will eventually replace Jim McDermott in the 7th District?

Despite his ongoing popularity among the majority of his constituents, the 11-term “Congressman for life” must eventually leave office, either by retirement, death, or electoral defeat. The latter option has seemed like a virtual impossibility in recent years, since the few challengers McDermott has faced in recent elections have been either political unknowns or wacko perma-candidates (such as the local voters’ pamphlet perennial Goodspaceguy). Those candidates’ only practical function has been to serve as futile protest votes for those of us in the 7th District who have been increasingly frustrated with McDermott’s ongoing lack of a substantial legislative record. MORE...