David George Reichert (; born August 29, 1950) is an American politician, veteran, and former sheriff who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2019. He is a Republican and is the former elected sheriff of King County, Washington. In September 2017, Reichert announced that he would retire from Congress after his seventh term. Early life, education, and military career Reichert was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the son of Marlys Ann (née Troeger) and George F. Reichert. He is the eldest of seven children and a grandson of the town marshal. His family moved to Washington in 1951, living first in Renton, then later moving to Kent, where he attended Kent Meridian High School. In 1968, he graduated and went to Concordia Lutheran College in Portland, Oregon on a partial football scholarship. He earned an Associate of Arts degree in social work in 1970. In 1971 he joined the Air Force Reserves' 939th Military Airlift Group. He saw active duty for six months and served until 1976. Law enforcement career Reichert served with the King County sheriff's department beginning in 1972. He was a member of the Green River Task Force, formed to track down the so-called "Green River killer" aided by the infamous Ted Bundy. In 2001, DNA evidence identified Gary Leon Ridgway as the Green River killer. In 2004, Reichert published the autobiography, Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer. In 1971, during his second year in law enforcement, Reichert responded to a domestic violence call in which a knife-wielding man was attempting to kill his wife. During this, Reichert's throat was slit by the attacker, which required stitches and surgery. In an interview, Reichert said of the incident, "I was able to save [the wife], and we got into a scuffle and fell over a coffee table in the living room, and he slit my throat with a butcher knife, ending up with forty-five stitches in my neck." Years later, he was awarded with one of his two Medals of Valor for his bravery. In 1997, he was appointed sheriff of King County, Washington, by King County executive Ron Sims. In 2001, he ran unopposed for a second four-year term. A widely rebroadcast event during the Seattle World Trade Organization conference and protests showed him chasing demonstrators down 3rd Avenue. He served as president of