POLL: Deep Blue: Will a Republican Ever Represent Shoreline and Lake Forest Park?

This story was corrected in regard to Cindy Ryu, Maralyn Chase and Darlene Fairley's service.

Do you recall the last time a republican represented Shoreline and Lake Forest Park in the state Legislature?

If history is the guide, any republican candidate here faces an uphill battle.

Reps. Cindy Ryu and Ruth Kagi in the 32nd District seem assured of victory in November after easy primary wins. Republican Randy Hayden who is facing Ryu and Robert Reedy who is facing Kagi in November are the latest in a long line of republicans to face a huge challenge in fundraising, name recognition and support.

Both races for Legislative state rep. in the 46th District, which represents Lake Forest Park now, are democrat versus democrat: Rep. Gerry Pollet versus challenger Sylvester Cann for Pos. 1; and Jessyn Farrell and Sarajane Siegfriedt for Pos. 2. Republican Scott Hodges only could muster 18 percent of the vote in the Position 2 race even though the democratic vote was split between four candidates. No republican even bothered to run against incumbent State Sen. David Frockt in the 46th and he will be automatically reelected.

According to local pundit Evan Smith who writes for Patch, the last republican to win here won during the Reagan years.

Republican Bill Kiskadden beat incumbent democratic State Sen. Donn Charnley in 1984, when Shoreline and LFP were in the 1st Legislative District. Bill Kiskadden was a one-term senator. He lost to democrat Patty Murray, then a Shoreline School Board member and the famous, "mom in tennis shoes." Murray is now serving her fourth term in the U.S. Senate after winning her first U.S. Senate seat in November 1992.

In 1992, redistricting moved Shoreline from the 1st District to the 32nd District, according to Smith. In 1994, the recently retired Darlene Fairley was elected as a state senator for the new district. Her seat is now filled by Maralyn Chase. Ryu won Chase's state representative seat.

Other local races such as City Council are non-partisan but even there you'd be hard-pressed these days to find someone who is not a democrat although some might be considered more conservative than others.

It's tough road for republicans in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park to gain traction when they outnumbered nearly 2-to-1. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Art Coday, a Shoreline resident, was well short of the votes needed to get to the general election against Sen. Maria Cantwell. State Senator Michael Baumgartner from the Spokane area, a traditional republican stronghold will get a shot at Cantwell, although he faces a monmunental task to unseat the two-term U.S. Senator.

Still, in the bluest of blue districts is it possible for a republican to win at all? Who and what type of candidate would that person be? Could a moderate republican win here? Respond in the comments.