On Wednesday, Republican Dino Rossi is entering the Senate race in Washington. This could mean a battle to hold onto the Democratic seat. For the Dems, Rothenberg Political is changing the classification form definitely safe for Senator Murray to now being a very narrow margin for the Democrats. The Cook Political changed from solid to now a toss up.

Rossi, who currently is a real estate investor and a former US state senator, has run for governor twice. Democrat Gregoire won just by a few votes when the election went into overtime six years ago. In 2008 Rossi lost again after a rematch by a larger margin. He is the most well known Republican to run for Washington state.

Rossi is going against is the so called “soccer mom” Patty Murray who is sitting on $6 million in a campaign war chest. This three term senator has an approval rating of 50% between voters. This information was filed by the FTC in March. She easily won re-election bids in 2004 and 1998.

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska endorsed Clint Didier, another Republican just a few days before Rossi’s announcement. Didier is a former NFL player and a favorite in the Tea Party. He has officially attacked Rossi as firmly entrenched in the Republican Party. Washington state will hold the primary election on August 17.

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