Dino Rossi in Pasco, Wash. Photo by Matt McGee via Flickr

From the Republican Senatorial Committee, to the Seattle Times, to MSNBC and Fox News, Republican businessman and Seattle University alumus Dino Rossi has been fielding calls inquiring whether or not he will run for the Washington Senate seat currently held by Senator Patty Murray. This recent political salivation all began when a Portland based polling firm took up the task of gauging the current political atmosphere within Washington state, and came up with a surprising result; Rossi leads in a statistical dead heat.

In a poll of 500 registered voters within Washington state, 45 percent supported Rossi, 43 percent supported Sen. Murray, with 9 percent remaining undecided. This came as a shock to the media and political junkies alike, especially being that Sen. Murray is currently running for her fourth term, and Rossi has lost two straight gubernatorial races (both against current Gov. Chris Gregoire).

Though Rossi may come across as a two-time loser, those Washingtonians old enough to remember the 2004 gubernatorial debacle (when Washington was dubbed the “Florida of the West Coast”), know that Rossi can be an apt and competitive contender. He lost the 2004 race to Governor Gregoire by a measly 133 votes, making it the closest gubernatorial race in American history. In 2008, Rossi contested a rematch to Gregoire in which he lost by only 8 percentage points in a state that heavily voted to elect President Barack Obama.

Unlike 2004 and 2008, this is quite possibly the most competitive mid-term election cycle since the Republican party took control of Congress in 1994 (which many saw as a response to President Bill Clinton’s liberal policies). The Republican party is also experiencing the political “perfect storm” with the elections of Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts), Chris Christie (R-New Jersey) and Bob McDonnell (R-Virginia) in states that heavily voted Obama in 2008.

Anti-Seattle Rossi sign photo by joeszilagyi via Flickr

Even though this may seem like Dino Rossi’s best bet to win a statewide election, he claims that he is not running. According to the Seattle Times, Rossi responded to the rumors by stating, “I am not running for any office at this point. I have no campaign.” Despite his seeming lack of interest in a third attempt at statewide office, political insiders know that candidates will often reject claims of running for office, right before they jump into the deep end.

This was ever apparent in 2006, when then Sen. Obama frequently rejected claims of a Presidential run, stating “I have no interest in running for President at this time.” To add to the mystery, Dino Rossi ominously stated this response to several news outlets including the Seattle Times and Politico, “I never said I would never run again for public office.”

A word to wary Washington Democrats, beware the Ides of March.