WA-01: Watkins Hits Inslee on Spending in First Ad

The thirty-second spot says Inslee has voted with Democratic leaders of the House 99% of the time. It also hits Inslee on supporting deficit spending in the range of $1.47 trillion. We’ll update this post if we find out how big of a buy, or what stations the ad is running on:

Rick Larsen Picks a Fight with the Tea Party

And it’s not pretty:

This video (h/t: SoundPolitics.com) seems to signal a leftward lurch in Larsen’s re-election strategy. To be sure, it wasn’t all that long ago that Democratic incumbents like Brian Baird, Adam Smith, and Jay Inslee would go to great pains to play up their “moderate” credentials.

The above, however, is more reminiscent of a segment on MSNBC — or something scripted with the help of the increasingly notorious JournoListers.

Whatever the thinking behind the ad, something tells us Rick Larsen just put a down payment on an interesting August recess…

Watkins Takes Aim at Inslee Votes

In just over a month, voters of the 1st Congressional District will be casting primary ballots.  The looming election hasn’t gone unnoticed by James Watkins, a Republican candidate banking on his business experience against six-term Democratic incumbent Jay Inslee (see profiles of Watkins, and fellow GOP primary contender Matthew Burke).

Watkins is taking issue with several of Inslee’s votes in the current session of Congress, which seemingly put him at odds with two important segments of voters: his base of suburban Democrats, and Watkins’ own likely libertarian-conservative primary voters.

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WA-01: Watkins Banks on Business Experience

This is the second in a two-part series on the GOP candidates contending to take on Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island). The first article profiled candidate Matthew Burke.

In the 2008 presidential campaigns, Ron Paul led an insurgent campaign for the GOP nomination.  His “come from nowhere” campaign gained traction from an army of online and offline libertarian-conservative activists, many of whom professed no previous involvement in politics.

Now, Paul’s ‘08 national campaign manager Lew Moore is helping to lead another long shot effort, as the consultant to former Microsoftie, James Watkins against incumbent Democrat Jay Inslee.

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Could 2010 Be Jay Inslee’s 1994 All Over Again?

The year was 1994, and after casting a series of votes that riled his Central Washington constituency, 4th District Congressman Jay Inslee was promptly shown the exit by voters.

Blame it on the “Republican Revolution” if you like, but the loss didn’t keep Inslee out of state and national politics for long.

A graduate of the University of Washington and practicing attorney, Inslee moved from the Yakima area to Bainbridge Island.

But before he would return to Congress, Inslee ran for Governor  in 1996 and lost to Gary Locke in the Democratic primary. In 1998 he defeated two-term incumbent Republican Congressman Rick White for the 1st Congressional District seat. In subsequent match-ups against GOP opponents, Inslee has cemented his hold on the district by wider margins.

Two GOP newcomers aim to change that.

This week, we’re profiling the first of two Republican candidates seeking their party’s nomination against Inslee.

Meet Matthew Burke, certified financial planner, and outspoken Tea Party activist. Like Inslee, Burke is an Eastern Washington transplant hailing from the Yakima area. But unlike Inslee, Burke has spent most of his adult life in the private sector — not seeking higher political office.

Starting out a bank teller, Burke worked his way up to helping individuals plan for financial success. However, his own path to financial success wasn’t so clear cut — as the candidate openly acknowledges in a “dirty laundry” page on his website.

Burke does, however, see a path to victory despite being a relative newcomer to Republican politics.

With the help of consultant Bruce Boram, Burke says he has raised a little more than $30,000 since March.

Burke faces a former Microsoftie in the GOP primary with an ability to self-fund his campaign, and thus plans to target his message with whatever resources he can raise before August 17 to likely conservative and independent voters.

Burke’s main message is a mix of Constitutional and conservative-libertarian thinking.  In short, he believes 22 years in financial planning will make him an asset in “Congress to get this country’s disastrous fiscal house in order, and return the federal government to its proper, constitutional role.”

Burke also says he’s counting on energized voters, angry about corporate bailouts and other over-reaching Democratic policies, to give him their votes. To do that, Burke plans to expose Inslee’s voting record early and often, saying the incumbent favors “atrocious, tax-and-spend, always pro-big government solution[s].”

You can follow Matthew Burke’s campaign on Twitter @MatthewKBurke for the latest news.

Check back next week as we profile Burke’s GOP primary opponent, James Watkins.

Post Script: Inslee is often mentioned as a candidate for Governor, as well as posts in the Obama Administration. If he were to pre-maturely resign his post in Congress, it’s not immediately clear who would step up on the Democratic side to campaign for his seat.