U.S. Rep. Adam Smith has been around in Washington state politics a long time.

A moderate Democrat, he’s been in Congress since 1997, and before that, served in the state Legislature. His 9th Congressional District stretches from parts of Bellevue and south Seattle down to Federal Way and Auburn.

Smith covered many topics in an interview this month with the Standard at a Bellevue Starbucks.

But as the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, he’s one of his party’s lead thinkers in Congress on national security issues and spoke at length on that topic and overseas conflicts in the Trump era — from his tepid optimism for peace in the Middle East and his one meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Looking toward next year’s midterms, Smith faces a challenge from socialist

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