Letter: Republican not right for district

Sam Reed, former Washington secretary of state, implores us to return a Republican to Congress because, well, it seems this is what we in the 3rd Congressional District have always wanted, right?

Wrong.

For 47 of the 63 years between 1923 and 1960, the 3rd District was represented by Democrats, nearly 75 percent of the time.

Mr. Reed refers to the 2022 Republican candidate as “ill-suited” while characterizing his preferred candidate as a “pragmatic problem solver.”

But as Greg Jayne pointed out in his column of Sept. 30, Mr. Reed’s preferred candidate does little to clearly distinguish themselves from their “ill-suited” Republican opponent.

I think Jayne and others like me recognize the main message of the “pragmatic problem solver” as this: “Defeat the incumbent Democrat at any cost.” That message does not distinguish them from their Republican opponent in any way, nor does it delve into why the “ill-suited” Republican candidate lost the 2022 election for the 3rd District congressional seat.

After watching our Republican-controlled U.S. Congress disintegrate into chaos by jettisoning their speaker, it seems Mr. Reed needs to present a better case for wanting to see a Republican represent us in our district ever again.