Dino Rossi Vs. The Democrats: This Week In WA-8, May 21

ENUMCLAW, WA - OK, the candidates vying to replace U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert are locked in. Filing week ended Friday, and candidates had until the end of the day Monday to withdraw from the race.

The four leading candidates - Dino Rossi, Kim Schrier, Jason Rittereiser, and Shannon Hader - are of course all in. But eight other people have also entered the race. Who are they?

Bill Grassie, Independent Centrist Party. We talked a little bit about Grassie in last week's column. He's a winemaker and former Microsoft exec who grew up in Kansas. Grassie's platform can be described as: to the left of Republicans, to the right of Democrats.

Tom Cramer, Democrat. Cramer has been in the race since last summer, filing even before Hader, for example. Cramer is progressive (opening statement on his website: "I am running for Congress to get higher pay for regular people.") and is originally from Illinois. He's raised about $33,000 for his campaign, as of March 31.

Gordon Allen Pross, Republican. Pross, who is from Ellensburg, has run for Congress at least three times. In 2014, he ran on a platform of abolishing all taxes except the income tax. Under Pross' plan, every American would pay 10 percent of their income each year - and that's that.

Richard T. Reyes, Libertarian. Reyes is from Kent, and he seems evenly opposed to Democrats and Republicans. He seems to hate (based on his campaign Facebook page) the Seattle head tax, but also Gina Haspel, Trump's choice to lead the CIA.

Jack Hughes-Hageman, Republican. Hageman lives in Issaquah (or "Issiquah" as he spells it on a campaign site), and according to LinkedIn, works at Princess Cruise Lines. (Update: Hughes-Hageman's campaign has informed us that he neither lives in Issaquah nor still works for a cruise line.

"Please correct your article to reflect that the campaign website you list is not affiliated in anyway what so ever with the Hughes-Hageman campaign and the candidate did not spell or author that website. This is untrue and misleading information and we politely request you change it. Other suggested corrections are that the candidate does not live in Issaquah. The address listed on that site is a post office in southern Issaquah where the campaign receives its mail. Also please reflect that there is no LinkedIn account associated with the Jack Hughes-Hageman campaign, as saying so would be false. Jack Huhges-Hageman has not worked for the Princess Cruise Lines or the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge for a number of years and maintains no LinkedIn account."

Todd Mahaffey, no party affiliation. Todd is a band teacher in the Bellevue School District and he lives in Issaquah.

Patrick Dillon, no party affiliation. Dillon, also from Issaquah, is a software developer and local volunteer soccer coach.

Keith Arnold, no party affiliation. Arnold, of Auburn, has no party affiliation to speak of. But based on this campaign website (which is pretty fun), he doesn't seem to like Republicans. The website might be a little outdated, however, since it mostly talks about George W. Bush.

ENDORSEMENTS

Schrier: Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; King County Young Democrats; Tacoma Pierce County Advocates for Retirement Action; state Rep. Steve Bergquist; state Rep. Zack Hudgins.

Hader: The North Central Washington (NCW) Central Labor Council; National Organization For Women (NOW) PAC; state Rep. Zack Hudgins; and King County Young Democrats (Hudgins and KCYD did dual endorsements of Hader and Schrier).

Rittereiser: Renton Firefighters’ IAFF Local 864; Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 22 - Coffee with Dr Shannon Hader for Congress

May 22 - Meet Shannon Hader in Redmond

May 26 - Coffee with Kim from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Covington Public Library

May 29 - Rittereiser Listen & Learn Town Hall on healthcare at 7:30 p.m., William C. Warren Building in Auburn