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Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is warning K Street donors that she will interpret PAC contributions to Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wash.) as a hostile act, even if the donors also give to her campaign. Shortly after Nethercutt announced his challenge against the incumbent senior senator, Rick Desimone, Murray’s chief of staff and the architect of her 1998 landslide reelection, began contacting lobbyists with Washington State interests, K Street sources say. He explained that his boss would be watching PAC donations closely, report several lobbyists who have interpreted the conversation as arm-twisting to prevent their donating to Nethercutt. The warnings come as...

An old political adage advises, "You can't beat somebody with nobody." Actually, it's more of a truism. In every election year there are races that are won or lost well before the contest begins. Candidate recruitment is often a prickly process. When the proverbial blood of an incumbent is in the water, political pets, party favorites and pretenders to a particular office dance around each other for weeks or even months, waiting for someone to make the first move. When an incumbent is strong it is often difficult to find someone credible who is willing to put their name on...

Republican Rep. George Nethercutt, who in 1994 toppled U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley, said today he would challenge Democrat incumbent Patty "Osama Mama" Murray for the Senate in 2004. Murray is infamous for her praise of mass-murdering terrorist Osama bin Laden, who in her sick fantasy world built "day-care centers" for those liberated career gals of Afghanistan, which "we haven't done." Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:2004 Elections DNC RNC

<p>SPOKANE, Wash. — Republican Rep. George Nethercutt (search), who in 1994 toppled U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley, said Wednesday he will challenge Democratic incumbent Patty Murray (search) for the Senate in 2004.</p> <p>Click to learn more... Nethercutt, 58, a favorite of the White House, will give up his congressional seat to make the run. He said he met last week with President Bush, who encouraged him to get into the race.</p>

Republican Congressman George Nethercutt will announce today that he's running against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in 2004, pitting the man who ousted a House speaker against an incumbent who entered politics as "the mom in tennis shoes." A Republican source close to Nethercutt said he will file papers today with the Federal Election Commission. Two other Republican sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said he'll be in the race. The decision ends weeks of courting by the White House and the National Republican Senatorial Committee to get Nethercutt to run — and has both parties gearing up for a...

WASHINGTON, July 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will face a challenge from Rep. George Nethercutt (R) next year, staff writer Hans Nichols reports in the July 29, 2003, issue of The Hill. While Nethercutt did not confirm that he would run, other sources said the fifth-term member from Spokane would challenge the second-term senator. Speculation now centers on when Nethercutt's candidacy will become official. "My sense is that he's decided to run," said Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.), who opted against a Senate bid. Nethercutt is going against state history; no candidate from the eastern part of the...

In The Northwest: Nethercutt warms up for race against Murray By JOEL CONNELLY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST After dancing for months around a prospective challenge to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Republican Rep. George Nethercutt of Spokane appears to be lacing up his running shoes. Nethercutt has enjoyed past flirtations with statewide races, including a Senate run in 1998, always to pull back. In recent days, however, he has begun to quietly call Republican leaders with word that he wants to go against Murray, according to well-placed Washington, D.C., sources. The five-term congressman from Eastern Washington -- who once promised to serve...

Cold feet: Every few months, it seems, Rep. George Nethercutt of Spokane tells the pliant Olympia bureau of The Associated Press that he may run statewide for senator or governor. The AP makes a big deal of it, only to watch Nethercutt later decide to keep the House as home. He may do it again, though Republicans say the nomination to oppose Murray is his for the asking. Guests at a recent fund-raiser co-hosted by ex-Sen. Slade Gorton chief of staff Tony Williams came away convinced Nethercutt won't take on Murray. Absent Nethercutt, local conservative activists are pushing Seattle Pacific...

WASHINGTON — Ending months of speculation, Rep. Jennifer Dunn has decided not to challenge Sen. Patty Murray in 2004, clearing the way for Rep. George Nethercutt or another Republican to take on the two-term Democrat. "While it is key that we elect more Republicans at the local, state and national levels, I have decided that I can be most effective by remaining in the U.S. House of Representatives," Dunn said last night in a statement. The Bellevue Republican has long been considered the party's first choice to challenge Murray, with encouragement for a Dunn candidacy coming from as high as...

Nethercutt's amendment is to an emergency war-spending bill, and would bar any rebuilding funds from going to businesses based in countries that "publicly expressed" opposition to the war, such as France and Germany. The full bill passed the House 414-12 and now will go to a conference committee to be reconciled with the Senate's version, which does not include an amendment similar to Nethercutt's. Nethercutt's amendment is one of several efforts being pushed by Republican lawmakers to punish France for its refusal to support the U.S. war effort

OPEN LETTER TO CONRESSMAN NETHERCUTT Dear Congressman Nethercutt, I'm writing to you today to ask you to oppose the expulsion of Congressman Traficant from the House of Representatives. Rep. Traficant's trial took place in a Kangaroo Court. The judge didn't allow him to present most of his evidence, or to argue that the government had a vendetta against him. The Judge, on more than one occasion, conducted proceedings that normally would be conducted in private, in front of the jurors. Its obvious that Congressman Traficant's prosecution (or rather, persecution) was politically motivated. His behavior and tirades on the house floor...