Sen. Derek Kilmer announces bid for Congress

Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, announced Monday morning that he will run for Washington State's 6th Congressional District seat currently occupied by outgoing U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.

Kilmer was elected to the 26th district Washington State Senate seat in 2006, serving as the Chair of the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee. He was re-elected in 2010, and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

This will be his first bid for Congress.

"My job is creating jobs," Kilmer said in a press release to announce his campaign on Monday. "When I'm not in Olympia, my job is to work with businesses in Pierce County to help them grow and thrive. We could use more folks in Washington who are focused on creating more jobs with better pay, and that's what I'll do in the U.S. House of Representatives."

Kilmer was born and raised in Port Angeles, graduating from Port Angeles High School before earning a bachelors' degree in public policy from Princeton University and a doctoral degree from the University of Oxford in England. Kilmer first ran for the 26th Legislative District in 2004, defeating a Republican incumbent to be elected to the Washington State House of Representatives. He was elected to the Senate in 2006 with 59.9 percent of the vote. He lives in Gig Harbor with his wife and daughters.

Kilmer acknowledged Monday morning that he would have big shoes to fill in replacing Dicks, a 36-year veteran of Congress. Dicks announced on Friday he will not seek re-election for Congress at the end of the current session.

"Norm Dicks may be the best Congressman in the history of Washington State. No one can fill his shoes, but I'll work to continue his legacy of fighting for jobs and standing up for the little guy."

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