I don't want my tax dollars to go to students who want to get an AA degree in gender studies or social justice.

Get back to me if free college puts the emphasis on majoring in STEM fields then I'll get on board

@1 I feel like you were a reasonable person a few years ago. Am I remembering wrong or have you always been an asshole?

Rittereiser looks like a great candidate. He is young, good looking and married. It would be nice if he had kids, but you can't have everything.

His experience as a prosecutor is huge. When Reichert once again talks about catching the Green River killer, Rittereiser can talk about putting men like that away.

His east side roots are huge. Not east side of the lake, but east side of the mountains. The 8th is made up of a lot of rural areas, and a guy that grew up in Ellensburg will appeal to them, as well as folks in Issaquah who see themselves as rural, not suburban (i. e. suburban cowboys). If he hustles and knocks on a lot of doors (the way Inslee did when he took the fairly rural 4th) then he should win going away, in what is likely to be a flip election.

A White Male Dem from Ellensburg will have a leg up in this district. Remember, it's Chelan, Wenatchee, Cle Elum, Ellensburg, far eastern King Co., and a metric fuck ton of piney woods.

@1: your tax dollars (and mine) go to subsidize welfare ranchers like the Bundys, and the children of polygamists like Warren Jeffs in St George Utah. but it's good to know you draw the line at education.

A prosecuting attorney named Rittereiser should be considered a Rottweiler, not a bulldog.

Reichert has kissed too many republican asses in his unearned career. He needs to go, doesn't represent this state at all, just looking for a window of opportunity to move up in the eroding republican party.

Dave Reichert and Doug Ericksen (R, Ferndale) BOTH need to go--preferably ini industrial sized garbage bags.

Wooo! Another fucking lawyer. Just what we need.

I'll take the rocket scientist. We could increase the number of scientists in Congress from 0.2% to 0.4%. The entire branch of government would literally become twice as smart from this one election. Also, that lawyer has never won an election before. Or even run and lost. No experience at all. Tola has actually campaigned and won an office. Twice. More than anything, we need to win.

@2. Yes. The 8th is a very gerrymandered district and I doubt anyone "from the coast" has a shot. Reichert had one too many close calls in the much less conservative than it used to be Bellevue/Issaquah/Redmond/Sammamish 8th so redistrcting him to Issaquah all the way to Chelan and Ellensberg was done. A D win in the 8th will need to do really well in those areas to make it. I like Tola. I live in Issaquah but he would be just another sacrificial lamb in the current 8th.

PS. Yes, people from east of the mountains often refer to Seattle as the coast.

Anyone but Reichert. I'd vote for a rancid dumpster sandwich rather than Reichert.

None of you people seem to be aware that the 8th hasn't voted for a Republican for President since 1988. Hillary beat Trump there by three points. Obama won it by 15 points the first time and two the second. All your blather about eastside rednecks who hate city slickers from "the coast" and all that shit is just ignorant. Do you even get out that way ever? Look up the past elections if you're playing at home. It's not a deep red district at all. It is NOT Trump country.

Reichert's improbable staying power is due to the advantages of incumbency, the phony media image of Sheriff Dave as a local hero, the Republican whips success in releasing him to vote against the GOP just often enough to convince the twats at the Seattle Times he is a "moderate", and our feckless Democrats unwillingness to seriously contest the seat. Tony Ventrella (just some TV guy) ran a "zombie campaign". DelBene tried in 2010 but she didn't have much help. The party thinks if it's not a sure thing they shouldn't even try.

Reichert's pro-Trump voting record hasn't been reported by the Seattle Times and the local TV media. They got bamboozled by the whip's games.

If you contest 10 seats with 50/50 odds, you'll win 5. If you don't even try, you win 0, dumbfucks. This is basic fucking math but when every single person in your party is a lawyer then basic fucking math is impossible. Elect a couple scientists and engineers every once in a while. It helps.

@12 -- I'm aware of everything you wrote, but it doesn't change what I wrote. Both of these candidates are good (way better than the losers that have been running lately) but I still feel Rittereiser is the stronger candidate, because he has ties to both sides of the Cascades, which is where the 8th is drawn.