Dave Reichert

Dave Reichert

David George "Dave" Reichert (* 29. August 1950 in Detroit Lakes , Becker County , Minnesota ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . From 2005 to 2019 he was a member of the 8th congressional district of the State of Washington to the United States House of Representatives on.

Family, education and work

Dave Reichert, the oldest of seven children, moved with his family to Washington State at the age of one , where he grew up first in Renton and later in Kent . Reichert graduated from Kent-Meridian High School . Thanks to a scholarship, he studied at the small Concordia University in Portland ( Oregon ) without a degree. He left university with an Associate of Arts degree . In 1971 he joined the United States Air Force and initially served on the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio ( Texas ) and later at the McChord Air Force Base in Pierce County (Washington). Reichert retired after six months of military service and was a reservist in the Air Force from 1971 to 1976.

From 1972 to 1997 Reichert worked as a police officer, initially in the sheriff's office in King County . He also became a member of the SWAT special unit . From the beginning of the 1980s he was one of the members of the so-called Green River Task Force , whose primary aim was to solve the mysterious series of murders along the Green River . In the end, Gary Ridgway was identified as one of the most famous serial killers in America today.

Dave Reichert lives in Auburn . He and his wife Julie are the father of three children, two daughters and one son. He is now a multiple grandfather.

Political career

Reichert was elected Sheriff of King County in 1997 and re-elected in 2001.

Reichert then ran in the 2004 election in Washington's 8th Congressional constituency for a seat in the United States House of Representatives . With over 51 percent of the vote, he triumphed over the Democratic radio host Dave Ross and took over from the Republican Jennifer Dunn on January 3, 2005. This suburban electoral district near Seattle was established in 1980 with the declared aim of creating a reliable Republican mandate, which changed with the establishment of technology companies like Microsoft on the east side of Lake Washington and the resulting demographics. In each of his first elections, Reichert had just won, until, after the 2010 census, his constituency was assigned larger rural areas that are more likely to be dominated by Republicans. He was most recently re-elected in the 2016 election. He is a member of the Committee on Ways and Means and chairs the Select Revenue Measures subcommittee .

At the beginning of September 2017, Reichert announced that he would no longer run in the 2018 election, giving the Democrats the chance to conquer this constituency - which Hillary Clinton won by three percent in the 2016 presidential election . Reichert's mandate ended on January 3, 2019, and Democrat Kim Schrier was able to win his seat.

Positions

He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership party organization and is considered a moderate Republican of the political center . He voted for the extension of the Violence Against Women Act , which aims to protect women from violence, and for the repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell directive. After initially rejecting Obamacare health care reform , in 2017 he was one of the few Republicans to vote against the House leadership's bill that would have abolished Obamacare.

reception

Reichert is played by actor Sam Jaeger in The Riverman , a 2004 feature film based on the Gary Ridgway murder series .

Web links

Commons : Dave Reichert  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Dave Reichert in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Reid Wilson: Washington GOP rep won't seek reelection. In: The Hill , September 6, 2017 (English).