Jay Inslee

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Jay Inslee

United States Representative from Washington's 1st district
In office 1993-1995; 1999-present
Preceded by	Sid Morrison; Rick White
Succeeded by	Doc Hastings; Incumbent

Born	February 9, 1951 Seattle, Washington
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Trudi Inslee
Religion	Non-denominational Protestant

Jay Robert Inslee (born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, currently serving as U.S. Representative from Washington's First Congressional District (north of Seattle, including parts of King, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties). He is a Democrat. He lives on Bainbridge Island.

Born in Seattle, Washington, he graduated from Seattle's Ingraham High School and the University of Washington (B.A., Economics) and Willamette University College of Law. After a decade working as an attorney in Selah, Washington, Inslee was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1988, where he served until 1992, when he was elected to Congress representing Washington's Fourth Congressional District (central Washington). He lost his bid for re-election in the Republican Revolution of 1994 (to Doc Hastings), a defeat often attributed in large part to his vote in favor of a 1994 ban on semi-automatic firearms.

Inslee moved to western Washington and briefly resumed the practice of law before running for governor in 1996 and losing in the Democratic primary to Gary Locke. President Bill Clinton subsequently appointed him Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a position he shortly left to again run for Congress in 1998, this time in the First Congressional District against two-term incumbent Rick White. His campaign attracted national attention when he became the first Democratic candidate to air television ads attacking his opponent, and the Republican congressional leadership, for the impeachment of President Clinton. He narrowly won, with 49.8% to White's 44.1%, aided by the presence of a religious right third party candidate, Bruce Craswell (the husband of 1996 GOP gubernatorial nominee Ellen Craswell).

Though the First is historically a swing district (changing hands twice in the 1990s), Republicans have had a difficult time fielding a serious challenger to Inslee, who was re-elected in 2000 (54.6%), 2002 (55.6%), and 2004 (62.3%). In July 2003, after then-Governor Gary Locke announced his retirement, Inslee briefly flirted with a gubernatorial bid before deciding to remain in Congress. An anti-Inslee campaign slogan, "Inslee is Outslee" was used briefly in 2002, but it did not catch on with more mainstream voters.

A member of the Clintonian New Democrat Coalition,^[1] Inslee has accumulated a progressive voting record, and has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq. He sits on the Resources Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has been a supporter of the Apollo Alliance.

[edit] Elections

Date	Position	Status	Opponent	Result	Vote share	Opponent vote share
1988	WA Representative			Elected
1990	WA Representative	Incumbent		Re-elected
1992	U.S. Representative	Open seat	Doc Hastings (R)	Elected
1994	U.S. Representative	Incumbent	Doc Hastings (R)	Defeated	47%	53%
1996	WA Governor	Open seat primary	Gary Locke (D), others	Defeated
1998	U.S. Representative	Challenger	Rick White (R)	Elected	50%	44%
2000	U.S. Representative	Incumbent	Dan McDonald (R)	Re-elected	55%	43%
2002	U.S. Representative	Incumbent	Joe Marine (R)	Re-elected	56%	41%
2004	U.S. Representative	Incumbent	Randy Eastwood (R), others	Re-elected	62%	36%
2006	U.S. Representative	Incumbent	Larry W. Ishmael (R)	Re-elected	69%	31%

[edit] References

^ New Democrat Coalition membership

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Jim Lewis	State Representative District 14 1988 – 1992	Succeeded by: Dave Lemmon
Preceded by: Sid Morrison	U.S. Representative from Washington District 4 1993 – 1995	Succeeded by: Doc Hastings
Preceded by: Rick White	U.S. Representative from Washington District 1 1999– – present	Incumbent