FILE – In this March 30, 2018, file photo, Dr. Kim Schrier, then a candidate in Washington state’s 8th District race, poses for a photo in Issaquah, Wash. Schrier won the race in 2018 and is trying to hold onto her seat after becoming the first Democrat to represent the district since it was founded in the early 1980s. Schrier faces Republican newcomer Jesse Jensen, an Army veteran from Bonney Lake who did four combat tours in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Elaine Thompson/AP

Matt Larkin wins GOP nomination to challenge Washington Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier

Kate Scanlon August 05, 09:21 PMAugust 05, 09:21 PM Video Embed

Attorney Matt Larkin has won the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier in Washington’s 8th Congressional District, setting up a competitive House race as Republicans try to claim a majority in the chamber.

Larkin, a 2020 Washington Republican gubernatorial candidate, secured a second-place finish on Friday night as more mail-in ballots were tallied. Candidates in the all-party primary, in which the top two vote-getters go on to the general election regardless of party identification, also included Army veteran Jesse Jensen, who ran a failed campaign against Schrier in 2020, and King County councilmember Reagan Dunn, also a former federal prosecutor whose mother previously represented the district for more than a decade.

MANCHIN SAYS BUILD BACK BETTER IS DEAD, ANNOUNCES DEAL ON INFLATION

Schrier, who also won a spot on the November ballot in the district’s all-party primary, has sought to cast herself as a pragmatist as the lines of her district shifted to be friendlier to Republicans. However, she has also sought to highlight her status as “the only pro-choice woman doctor” in the House after the Supreme Court reversed its ruling in Roe v. Wade earlier this summer.

The Republicans in the race sought to tie Schrier to President Joe Biden, high inflation, and rising gas prices.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The race will likely be competitive. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Schrier in its Frontline incumbent protection program. She is the only Democrat to hold the seat since its creation in the 1980s.

Flipping the district would be a gain for Republicans in their effort to win a House majority they lost in 2018.

© 2022 Washington Examiner

NewsRead More