In Congressman George Nethercutt's Bellevue apartment, you won't find many personal touches. The walls are bare, the furniture cheap or borrowed. On a worn coffee table sits a well-thumbed copy of "All the King's Men," a novel the Spokane Republican counts among his favorites. It's the cautionary tale of Willie Stark, a small-town politician who becomes corrupted as a powerful U.S. senator. But today, as Nethercutt officially kicks off his campaign against Sen. Patty Murray, there is another name to keep in mind — Clarence C. Dill, the last politician from east of the Cascades to be elected senator from...