Date Of Birth & Birthplace: 8/29/1950 (Detroit Lakes, MN) Race: White Religion: Lutheran Residence: Bellevue, WA Education: AA from Concordia Lutheran University, Portland, OR Occupation: Sheriff Office Type:U.S. House -- Washington District 8
Quarterly Campaign Finance Information
Cash on Hand: $89,829
Total Receipts: $335,181
Total Disbursements: $245,352
Date of Last Report: 8/25/2004
Biography:
Born on Aug. 29, 1950, in Detroit Lakes, Minn., Dave Reichert grew up in Renton, Wash., a blue-collar suburb south of Seattle.
The oldest of seven children, he took on the role of protector when fights between his parents got too heated, sometimes shepherding his brothers and sisters into a closet to comfort them.
At one point, he considered becoming a Lutheran minister like one of his grandfathers. He ended up following in the footsteps of his other grandfather, a town marshal. Reichert got an associate's degree from Concordia College in Portland, Ore., where he got a small grant to play football and met his wife, Julie, who now works for a suburban district court.
He started his law enforcement career in 1972 as a patrol officer in south King County. He became a detective five years later and was named the lead investigator of the Green River serial killings in 1982, soon after the first bodies were found.
The case became a testament to his persistence in the face of daunting odds, as thousands of tips and interviews with suspect after suspect led nowhere. The break came in 2001, early in his second term as sheriff, when new DNA technology led to the arrest of a longtime suspect who later pleaded guilty to killing 48 women.
Reichert and his wife live in rural southeast King County and have three grown children and five grandchildren.
Past Campaigns:
Dave Reichert was appointed King County sheriff in March 1997, then elected in November, after an amendment to the county charter maked the nonpartisan position subject to a general election. He was re-elected in 2001.
