OK, I’m a little late on this. So let’s do the three “Seattle” House seats all at once.

Washington 1 (Broadview, Bitter Lake, north suburbs, Kirkland, Mill Creek, North Kitsap)
Jay Inslee (D, Incumbent)
Larry Ishmael (R)

Larry Ishmael is a decent guy, a classic suburban Republican who wants better schools, a balanced budget, and all illegal aliens locked up and deported. You know what you’re getting, and while it’s not the progressive-with-a-twist-of-society-matron that city-dwellers love, he seems like the reasonable party hack you could tolerate. I mean, compared to Mike! McGavick!, he’s honorable.

And what does decent and honorable get you? Blown out by Jay Inslee, a tireless crusader for alternative fuels and against crippling intellectual property and Net Neutrality regulations. Inslee’s one of the good guys for the Dems, and his district was never in play.

Who’s going to win? Inslee. This election was over before the primary season even started.

Washington 7 (Seattle proper, east Shoreline, Tukwila, Burien, Vashon Island)
Jim McDermott (D, Incumbent)
Steve Beren (R)
Linnea Noreen (I)

McDermott is running for his 10th term in Congress. Or is it 20th? He’s the sort of liberal that will always be returned to office by the liberals of Seattle. He’s their people, even if he’s pushing 70, gets forgetful about the Pledge of Allegiance, and says nice things about Saddam in Baghdad right before the war. You just kinda wish he was on the Transportation Committee, not Ways and Means.

Beren is… well, I’d hate to be at that watch party on Tuesday. When the GOP does run someone in the Seventh, they usually are that particular brand of The Republican Crazy that makes them unpalatable to anyone but the True Believers that don’t live in Seattle. But, you see, he used to be a member of the Communist Party! Or something.

And then there’s Linnea Noreen, who is 29, and apparently what she’s lacking in votes she seems to be making up for in, um, she has a nice website. But she’s young, bright, and willing to go after McDermott without sounding like the sort of Crazy that Beren has. The Seventh has been kind to third parties before — the Greens won 20% of the vote in 2000, still their best showing in a federal race — but they’ve never sent a third party candidate to the other Washington.

Who’s going to win? You shouldn’t even have to ask, but Noreen might hold him under 75% this time out.

Washington 8 (Bellevue, Redmond, Renton, the Kent Valley, Issaquah, Carnation)
Dave Reichert (R, Incumbent)
Darcy Burner (D)

Reichert has been really hard to pin down. Is he a Bush lackey? Is he as independent as he says he is? Is he ever going to give back the $20,000 Tom DeLay handed him last election cycle?

And what was the deal with that whole school bus driver thing? “I called the district the next day,” he said, in order to get her fired. The records show that his definition of “next day” is eight weeks. Yeah, there’s some integrity there. He’s perfect for Washington.

On the other side is Darcy Burner, whose public service record is shorter than Dan Savage’s remaining seconds of fame. The Reichert campaign keeps pounding at this fact, even though their candidate has less actual experience as a legislator as the “young and inexperienced” John Edwards had in 2004. Two years in office. Yup. That says experience to me.

Her experience lies in her years at Microsoft, making her yet another political candidate running off time — and stock options — at MSFT. Other than the experience factor, she’s been able and willing to define her agenda and fight Reichert for every vote.

And as Foley-gate and the DeLay-Abramoff scandals and the Iraq debacle keep dragging on, Reichert has had to fight hard for his career. The party-sponsored attack ads are now running so thick on local TV that a Sleep Country ad is a welcome respite from the venom and bile. It’s amazing, in a way, that a district that has long been a GOP fortress is under siege from a Democratic campaign army and a moderating electorate willing to talk about throwing the elephant over the ramparts.

Who’s going to win? Unless the Bus Driver Drama causes the moderates to give Reichert the finger en masse, he’s going to squeak out a close victory… and need to immediately start worrying about 2008, now that the Dems know he’s vulnerable.

Up next: Just a few questions for you, courtesy of the people who brought you the initiative process.