Former U.S. Representative Dave Reichert enters Washington gubernatorial race

Dave Reichert is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Washington. He was elected from the state's 8th District, which is based in the Seattle region.

Reichert gained a reputation for being a member of the moderate wing of the Republican party. He was among the party's critics of Donald Trump, including not supporting his 2016 Presidential campaign.

Reichert is now looking to make a return to political office.

Files to run for governor

The Seattle Times and Axios report that Dave Reichert is a candidate for governor of Washington. Reichert has filed the necessary paperwork to see the office, making him the third candidate to formally enter the race for the 2024 Republican nomination. But by far the most high-profile as of yet.

On the Democratic side, State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has been heavily favored to land the nomination. The race is an open one, as Democratic incumbent Jay Inslee has opted not to run for re-election.

Reichert was first elected to the U.S.

House of Representatives in 2004. He succeeded prominent fellow Republican Jennifer Dunn, who was retiring. In the ensuing years, Reichert would be re-elected to another six terms in the House. In one of his successful re-election bids, his Democratic opponent was former Microsoft executive Suzan DelBene. DelBene would later win a seat in the House from the 1st District of Washington. She is now a member of the House Democratic Leadership.

In Congress, Reichert was a key member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Including serving as chairman of what was then its Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.

Reichert opted not to seek another Congressional tour of duty in 2018. Democrat Kim Schrier, a medical doctor by trade, won the seat.

Is a former sheriff

Dave Reichert is a native of Detroit Lakes in western Minnesota. There, his grandfather had been the marshal in previous years. The younger Reichert and his family moved to Renton, Washington before settling in nearby Kent.

After graduating from Kent-Meridian High School, Reichert entered what is now Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. He was the recipient of a partial football scholarship and earned a degree in social work.

After obtaining his degree, Reichert served in the United States Air Force. He also joined the King County Sheriff's Office as a deputy. Quickly, he was named a SWAT commander and a detective.

In 1997, Democratic King County Executive Ron Sims appointed Reichert as the new sheriff.

Reichert was taking over for James Montgomery. Montgomery was stepping down as sheriff to take the post of police chief of Bellevue, Washington. Reichert was elected as sheriff in his own right in 2001.

Shortly after, the Sheriff's Office under Reichert arrested Gary Ridgway. New DNA testing had helped identify Ridgway as the notorious serial murderer known colloquially as the Green River Killer. Reichert had previously been a member of an unsuccessful task force seeking the killer during the 1980s. Ridgway was eventually sentenced to life in prison without parole.