HOQUIAM — State Sen. Jim Hargrove doesn’t want to start over on the political stage, he said Monday.

The 24th District Hoquiam Democrat, who represents Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County, said he has decided to run for re-election to his state Senate seat Nov. 6 rather than run for the 6th Congressional District seat held by longtime U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, who announced March 2 that he will not seek re-election.

After the announcement, the name of the 58-year-old forester joined a slew of others who were reportedly thinking about running for Dicks’ seat.

But if elected to Congress, Hargrove — the second most senior member of the state Senate — would start at the bottom in seniority and committee assignments, which isn’t where he wants to be.

Hargrove served in the state House from 1985 to 1992 and was elected to the Senate in 1993.

“When I was in the House, I did not have a lot of influence,” he said.

“Now I’ve got a lot more impact in the state Senate.”

If he’d been elected to Dicks’ position, Hargrove would have been one of 435 members of the U.S. House.

“It would be a bigger stage, but I would not have as much opportunity to get things done that impacts lives,” he said.

Hargrove is on the executive committee of the Senate’s Family Policy Council, chairs the Western Legislative Forestry Task force and is on the Children’s Oversight Committee.

State Sen. Derek Kilmer, a Port Angeles native who represents the 26th District that includes Bremerton, has announced his intention to run for Dicks’ position.

Kilmer is the vice president of the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County.

Hargrove said he does not endorse candidates for public office.

Democratic Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Democratic Kitsap County Commissioner Josh Brown have said they are considering running.

And Republicans Doug Cloud, Jesse Young and Bob Sauerwein have announced their candidacies.

Cloud is a Tacoma lawyer.

Young is a Gig Harbor senior business technology consultant.

Sauerwein is a Port Orchard businessman.

The filing week for the Nov. 6 general election is May 14-19.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladaily

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