BELLEVUE, Washington — Republicans keep thinking they can win Washington state. Dave Reichert thinks this time is real.

Five years after leaving politics, the former representative is running for the state’s open gubernatorial seat in 2024 and is seen as the party’s frontrunner heading into the new year. Republicans have insisted they could be competitive in the state, despite its overall blue tilt, but have lost recent high-profile elections here. Now-President Joe Biden carried the state by 19 points in 2020.

But both Democrats and Republicans in the state believe this race could be competitive because of Reichert.

“When they say ‘we can’t win in Washington state’ — we can,” Reichert said in an interview in a spartan campaign office here last month. “You can if you’re the right candidate at the right time.”

Reichert carries significant name ID in the state’s most populous areas, both from his time in Congress and as sheriff of King County — home of both Seattle and Bellevue, a major outpost for some of the world’s largest tech companies. He was from the moderate wing of the party while in D.C. and may be tougher to paint as a MAGA diehard. And Reichert argues that the state’s struggles with crime and homelessness — a particular crisis in King County — and general lingering pessimism about the economy creates an opening.

Reichert’s candidacy will test the potency of tough-on-crime policies in blue states — and the degree to which voters will punish even well-known Republicans for sharing a ballot with former President Donald Trump, the party’s all-but-assured presidential nominee.

A victory would be massive for Washington Republicans, who have little power in the Pacific Northwest state. There hasn’t been a GOP governor in nearly 30........

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