Rossi turns spotlight on U.S. Senate race

Republican Dino Rossi's long-awaited entry into the U.S. Senate race Wednesday pushes Washington onto the national political map this year, morphing the state from a footnote into a more closely watched battleground that could shape control of Congress.

Translation: Get ready for a deluge of political attack ads paid for by millions of dollars in out-of-state money from both parties.

Rossi's announcement, via a five-minute video on his campaign website, catapults him to the top of the list of Republicans vying to challenge three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Patty Murray.

A two-time GOP gubernatorial nominee and former state senator from Sammamish, Rossi has proven appeal statewide.

Some political experts remain skeptical of Republicans' chances of beating Murray, the Senate's fourth-ranking Democrat and known for bringing federal money to Washington state for transit and other projects.

"If the Republicans are to have any chance of actually taking over the Senate, rather than just gaining seats, they need to win several surprise victories, and Washington state would be high on the list," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "This is definitely on the radar screen for the national political community."

Big challenge for GOP

Thirty-six Senate seats are up for election in November; half are held by Republicans, half by Democrats. Republicans have 41 votes in the Senate, which means they must gain 10 seats in order to win majority control.

In a year when establishment Republicans in other states have been knocked out by tea-party insurgents, Rossi must compete for votes with other GOP contenders who say they're not stepping aside — including former NFL player Clint Didier and state Sen. Don Benton.

Democrats have made it clear for months they viewed Rossi as the greatest threat to Murray. The party dispatched researchers to the state and has been pitching negative stories about his business dealings to the local and national media.

Murray's campaign manager, Jeff Bjornstad, on Wednesday framed a Rossi-Murray matchup as a choice between "putting people back to work" or "take us back to the failed Bush-era policies that got us in this mess."

State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz predicted a "bitter primary inside the Republican Party" like those that have doomed establishment GOP candidates in Utah and Kentucky.

Unusual primary

But Washington's situation is different because of its "top two" primary.

Rather than closed partisan Republican or Democratic primaries, all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the November election. That gives a huge advantage to the well-known Rossi.

"People have no idea who Clint Didier is. They have no idea who any of these folks are, and none of them are going to have enough money to introduce themselves to voters," said former state Republican Chairman Chris Vance, who supports Rossi.

Still, in a nod to the unusual political year, GOP leaders on Wednesday were wary of anointing Rossi their chosen one — even though he was recruited by national party leaders.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) press secretary Amber Marchand issued a statement calling Rossi "yet another qualified Republican candidate" challenging Murray.

Didier, whose appeal to the conservative tea-party movement recently won him an endorsement from former GOP vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has criticized Rossi as an "establishment" candidate who won't attract voters who want real change.

In a written statement, Didier said he's a proven hard worker, both as a tight end who won two Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins and more recently as a Pasco farmer who deals with Mother Nature every day.

"I don't always win this matchup, but I never give up," Didier said.

Benton said he looks forward to debating Rossi, who now will have to lay out his position on federal issues such as immigration and the environment.

"I don't think this is a campaign that is going to be won simply on name awareness or money," Benton said. "I think this is a campaign that is going to be won on the positions and issues of the candidates."

Rossi took no questions Wednesday, and his short speech offered few policy details other than to call for repeal of the health-care law passed by Congress. His campaign scheduled individual media interviews Thursday.

Luke Esser, chairman of the state Republican Party, said the party has no plans to unite behind a favorite before the primary, as it has in the past. "Three times in a row we've run incumbent members of Congress at Patty Murray, and that hasn't worked," he said. "I'm not afraid to try a little different tack this time around."

Rossi's candidacy will bring the kind of money and get-out-the-vote efforts that could aid GOP candidates across the ballot, Vance said.

"It's huge," he said. "If I'm a Republican legislative candidate, I'm dancing in the street right now."

A commercial real-estate investor and former state senator from Sammamish, Rossi rose to fame during the 2004 governor's race, which he lost to then-Attorney General Chris Gregoire by 133 votes after two recounts and a failed legal challenge. He lost a 2008 rematch by 6 percentage points.

Rossi has said he wasn't planning to step into the Senate race. But he was wooed by national Republican leaders, flying to Washington, D.C., in March to meet with Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the NRSC, and Michael Steele, chairman of Republican National Committee.

Where does he stand?

In the two gubernatorial bids, Rossi positioned himself as a fiscal conservative, usually avoiding questions on social issues by saying they weren't relevant to the governor's office.

But he will have a harder time making that argument running for the Senate, which confirms Supreme Court justices who frequently are the final word on abortion, gay rights and other hot-button issues.

In his introductory video, Rossi borrowed language from Ronald Reagan, saying America's "best days" lie ahead, if only government can be restored to its "proper, more limited role."

Rossi said he couldn't look his children in the eye if he stood by while a fundamental "redefinition" of America was taking place.

"I believe the policies being passed in Washington, D.C., have put us on the edge of a fiscal cliff," Rossi said, citing new taxes and spending pushed by Democrats.

He referred to the aspirations of his hardworking Italian immigrant grandparents, who settled in Black Diamond, where his grandfather worked in a coal mine. Rossi said he wants to restore the "American dream" that his grandparents believed in.

"The dream was never a promise that everybody would have the same things or that government would provide you with everything you need no matter what," he said. "Our shared American dream was that you would have the freedom to rise as high as your talent and work ethic would take you."

Murray, a former state legislator first elected as a "mom in tennis shoes" in 1992, has risen in power in the Senate. She's a member of the Democratic Senate leadership and the powerful Appropriations Committee.

Murray has a huge fundraising advantage. Federal election reports show her with nearly $6 million in campaign cash on hand. Her closest opponent, Didier, has raised about $350,000.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com