As he runs for Congress, Reagan Dunn recounts battle with alcoholism, and his
Before he decided to give up alcohol for good, Reagan Dunn relapsed on a lobbyist’s yacht in 2017, going on a four-day bender near the San Juan Islands that brought crushing personal consequences.
Dunn, a longtime Republican Metropolitan King County Councilmember, had publicly pledged to give up booze in 2014 after crashing his truck and pleading guilty to DUI. He also had promised to abstain in a 2015 divorce settlement with this ex-wife, as a condition of visits with their two young children.
But aboard the yacht in August 2017, after helping fix an engine-system failure that temporarily left the vessel adrift, Dunn figured he deserved a beer or two. He spiraled over the next few days until he was waking up and drinking at 6 a.m.
The episode worsened an already fraught relationship with his ex-wife, leading to a court order limiting his time with their children to a single three-hour, professionally supervised visit each week. He had to blow into a Breathalyzer before and after each visit.
Dunn, 50, is running for Congress this year in the 8th Congressional District, challenging U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Sammamish, who looks vulnerable in the midterm election after flipping the historically Republican district for Democrats in 2018.
Over the past few years, Dunn has spoken openly about his battles with alcohol and his recovery. He’s making his experiences a part of his congressional campaign — saying he expects opponents to comb through his record — and if elected, vows to take a national role on helping people in recovery.
Two other Republicans are also competing in the Aug. 2 primary: Jesse Jensen, a combat veteran and technology manager who ran for the seat in 2020, and Matt Larkin, an attorney and business executive who ran for attorney general two years ago.
At his worst, Dunn says he was downing up to a fifth of vodka a day, mixed with Diet Sprite. He says he took his last drink of alcohol on Dec. 27, 2017, and shared lab reports from regular hair, fingernail and blood tests that have documented his sobriety.
“I consider that relapse on the San Juan Islands my greatest failure ever. Number two is the DUI,” Dunn said in an interview. “Guess what they both have in common? Addiction is wreckage to a family.”
Dunn is far from alone in his struggles.
Nearly 15 million Americans have an alcohol-use disorder, and 95,000 die annually from the effects of alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Failed rehab program
In his congressional bid, Dunn is emphasizing a “re-fund the police” message and pointing to his record of opposing new taxes.
He is also trying to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Jennifer Dunn, who chaired the state GOP during the Ronald Reagan era (she named him after Reagan while the future president was still governor of California) and went on to serve six terms in Congress, from 1993 to 2005. She died in 2007.
A former federal prosecutor elected to the county council in 2005, Reagan Dunn first sought treatment for alcoholism in late 2011, during his unsuccessful run for attorney general. At the insistence of family members, he quietly entered a 28-day rehabilitation…
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