OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Several Democratic candidates for the newly redrawn 1st Congressional District jumped into a one-month special election for former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s old seat after political activist Darcy Burner announced she’d be running in both elections.
Burner made the surprise announcement Friday morning, even though the state Democratic Party officials earlier announced their preference for the candidate in the special election as Brian Sullivan, a Snohomish City councilman. After Burner’s move, much of the rest of the Democratic field, which had already filed for the new 1st District race then announced that they too would run for the special election.
Several candidates are running in the regular election for the seat being vacated by Inslee. In addition to Burner, Democrats include: former state revenue director Suzan DelBene; state Sen. Steve Hobbs; former state Rep. Laura Ruderman; and Bothell high-tech entrepreneur Darshan Rauniyar. John Koster is the only Republican in the race. The campaigns for Hobbs and Koster said Friday they would not run in the special election.
