Washington State's 2nd District: Smith vs. Larsen

Human Events, Oct 7, 2002 by Gizzi, John

Races of the Week

There really is no way to properly characterize the respect and genuine affection-- almost reverence-in which Jack Metcalf is held among fellow conservatives in Washington State's 2nd District, even two years after retiring from Congress. After entering the state legislature in 1960, Metcalf lost two bids against the late Democratic Sen. (1944-- 80) Warren Magnuson, a race for the House, and a statewide initiative to compel the state attorney general to launch a suit against the Federal Reserve Board, before finally making it to Congress in 1994-the first Republican to hold the 2nd District in three decades and, at 66, the oldest of that fabled freshman Republican class that gave the GOP its majority in the House.

Whidbey Island bed-and-breakfast owner and Kiwanian Metcalf never really changed much from the iconoclast he was in the legislature. He won two more terms over wellfinanced Democratic opposition and, in 2000, lived up to his self-imposed promise to retire after three terms.

Alas, Republicans lost their hold on the 2nd District with Metcalf gone. Liberal Democrat Rick Larsen won by 50% to 46% over conservative Republican John Koster as Al Gore was also carrying the district. Former Snohomish County Council President Larsen is the opposite of his predecessor-supporting Bill Clinton's punitively anti-business ergonomics regulations, opposing school vouchers and a constitutional amendment to limit taxation, supporting continued tax dollars for the National Endowment for the Arts and opposing bans on partial birth abortion and desecration of Old Glory.

In fact, there are few House districts anywhere in the United States where the differences between the present congressman (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 12%) and his predecessor (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 96%) are so pronounced.

Jack Metcalf has no desire to return to what his neighbors call "the other Washington." But 2nd District GOPers have the next best thing in nominee Norma Smith, Metcalf's special assistant for military veterans and local government affairs.

Her longtime association with the popular former congressman-not to mention his strong endorsement-were pivotal to Smith's winning the Republican nomination over a better-funded opponent.

After years of working with military personnel at the two bases in the 2nd District and dealing with groups such as senior citizens and small businessmen, the vivacious mother of four and grandmother of one knows where to go for votes and support. With the country involved in a war on terrorism, her understanding of military issues and her personal ties to the large veterans community (husband Steve is a Marine veteran of Vietnam) are considered major campaign assets.

"I want to restore tax fairness for hardworking married couples struggling to make ends meet and provide for their families," declared Smith. "Mr. Larsen wants to continue an unfair tax penalty for families-a tax on marriage."

Reapportionment, too, helps the Smith cause. Because it is the fastest-growing district in the state, nearly 65,000 people had to be moved out of the 2nd by redistricting-- and most of them came from Democratic areas in Everett, Mukilteo, and the suburban area south of Everett.

"She's smart, she's competent, she's courageous, and she's also a tough Marine wife," Norma Metcalf, wife of the former congressman, said in campaigning for Norma Smith.

(Norma Smith for Congress, PMB 398, 3405 172nd St. NE, Suite 5, Arlington, Wash. 98223; 360-435-2367)

This is the fourteenth in our annual election year series-written by HUMAN EVENTS Political Editor John Gizzi-on House and Senate races of particular interest to conservatives.