Washington's 9th congressional district
| Washington's 9th congressional district | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Current Representative | Adam Smith (D–Bellevue) |
| Population (2010) | 672,460 |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Cook PVI | D+15 |
Washington's 9th congressional district encompasses a long, somewhat narrow area in western Washington through the densely populated central Puget Sound region, from Tacoma in the south to Bellevue in the north. Since 1997, the 9th District has been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Adam Smith, a Democrat from Bellevue.
Established after the 1990 U.S. Census, the 9th District was originally drawn as a "fair fight" district. The first representative from the 9th District, Mike Kreidler (D), was defeated after one term by conservative Republican Randy Tate; Tate, in turn, was defeated after one term by Smith. Kreidler currently serves as the Washington Commissioner of Insurance, and Tate went on to succeed Ralph Reed as executive director of the Christian Coalition. Since being first elected in 1996, Smith's moderate voting record and a strong Democratic trend in the Puget Sound region have turned the formerly contentious district into a fairly safe Democratic seat. He won reelection easily in the 2008 election.
Al Gore and John Kerry each carried the 9th District with 53% in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Barack Obama won the district in 2008 with 59% of the vote.
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