Spokane-area 5th District race wide open with McMorris Rodgers out
Eleven candidates are battling for the Spokane region’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, a position from which previous lawmakers have enjoyed political power and longevity.
Democrat Tom Foley held the 5th District seat for 30 years and rose to become speaker of the House, no. 3 in line for the presidency.
In 1994, Foley became the first speaker to lose reelection since the Civil War when Spokane lawyer George Nethercutt upset him by 4,000 votes in a landslide year for the GOP. Nethercutt was rewarded with a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. He ran against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in 2004 and lost. Nethercutt died Friday at the age of 79 after a long illness.
Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers replaced Nethercutt in the House in 2004 and has held the seat for 20 years. She rose at one point to the no. 3 position in House leadership.
-more-
https://crosscut.com/politics/2024/06/spokane-area-5th-district-race-wide-open-mcmorris-rodgers-out