Ричард Рэй Ларсен: Биография и политическая деятельность

American politician (born 1965)
persons of a similar name

Richard Ray Larsen (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician and lobbyist serving as the United States representative for since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Larsen is the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Larsen was born and raised in Arlington, Washington, and graduated from Arlington High School. Throughout his childhood, he played youth soccer and was later a ball boy for the original Seattle Sounders. Larsen attended Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Minnesota, earning a master's degree in public affairs. He formerly worked as director of public affairs for the Washington State Dental Association and as a lobbyist for the dental profession.

Larsen has supported the House Democratic proposal for the Affordable Care Act. He voted for the reform bill in November 2009. Larsen does not support single payer health insurance. He has said he "thought it was more appropriate to stick with defending Obamacare, not to change in the middle of the controversy". Larsen does not support Medicare for All and has said he supports the Public Option Deficit Reduction Act as an alternative. This proposal adds a public option to the Affordable Care Act using the same market based exchanges while lowering premiums by only five to seven percent.

In 2007, Larsen opposed impeaching President George W. Bush, saying, "I believe the American people elected a Democratic majority to make positive changes in their lives. If we took up impeachment, we would do nothing else for the next 2 years. I don't think that's what we were elected to do". Larsen supported impeaching President Donald J. Trump on July 18, 2019.

Although Larsen initially voted against a bill authorizing military force in Iraq in October 2002, he also voted against an amendment that sought to have the United States work through the United Nations to resolve tensions instead of invading Iraq. In 2006, Larsen voted against requiring Congressional authorization for use of force in Iran, and in 2011 he voted for use of force in Libya. Since 2002, Larsen has voted for nearly every bill put forth in the House concerning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2006, the Seattle Post Intelligencer described Larsen as a "strong advocate for providing money to support the [Iraq War]". In 2006, Larsen voted to endorse the War in Iraq and against a mandated withdrawal plan. In 2008, he said that troops would be in Iraq "well into the next administration" and likely remain "for another 10 years". Larsen supported President Obama's proposed exit strategy, which promised to remove combat troops by summer of 2010.

Larsen voted for the S Miner Act and Extending Federal Emergency Unemployment Benefits and Providing Business and Homebuyer Tax Credits bill. He claims to support Washington State's economy by investing in small to medium size businesses to help them succeed in the global economy.

As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Larsen has voted for every transportation bill since being reelected in 2008. He believes that "sound investments in transportation keep our economy moving" and improve conditions in other areas.

Larsen defeated Republican Doug Roulstone, a retired Navy officer from Snohomish, with 65% of the vote to Roulstone's 34%.

Larsen was challenged in the Democratic primary during his 2008 reelection campaign by perennial candidate Glen Johnson. His Republican opponent for the House race was recently retired Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart. For the 2008 election cycle, Larsen's campaign's total income was $1,336,438. His campaign spent $1,155,691.

In 2012, Larsen won reelection with 61% of the vote to Republican nominee Dan Matthews's 39%.

Larsen was challenged by Republican Marc Hennemann. Hennemann decided to challenge Larsen after receiving an answer he disliked to a question at a town hall meeting in Coupeville. Larsen defeated Hennemann, 64% to 36%.

+ : Results 2000–2022YearDemocratVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct2000Rick Larsen146,61750%John Koster134,66046%Stuart AndrewsLibertarian7,6723%Glen S. JohnsonNatural Law4,2311%2002Rick Larsen101,21950%Norma Smith92,52846%Bruce GuthrieLibertarian4,3262%Bernard P. HaggertyGreen4,0772%2004Rick Larsen202,38364%[[Suzanne Sinclair (American politician)106,33334%Bruce GuthrieLibertarian7,9662%2006Rick Larsen157,06464%Doug Roulstone87,73036%2008Rick Larsen217,41662%Rick Bart131,05138%2010Rick Larsen155,24151%John Koster148,72249%2012Rick Larsen184,82661% Dan Matthews117,46539%2014Rick Larsen67,81262%B. J. Guillot41,88938%2016Rick Larsen208,31464%Marc Hennemann117,09436%2018Rick Larsen135,83172%Brian LukeLibertarian51,70928%2020Rick Larsen249,94463%Timothy S. Hazelo148,38437%2022Rick Larsen202,980 60%Dan Matthews 134,335 39%

Larsen married Tiia Ingrid Karlen in 1994. They have two children.