Almost from the moment the polls closed last November, Democratic US Representative Suzan DelBene's WA-01 seat has been a top target of Republicans, generating a barrage of anti-DelBene press releases and emails whose dishonesty is only surpassed by their stupidity—including a recent NRCC missive that warned that "In 2014, Illinois voters will know that Suzan DelBene would rather help big business than help them." Yes, they are that incompetent.

The theory is that WA-01 was drawn to be a Republican-leaning district in mid-term elections—when many Democrats are too lazy and disinterested to vote without the White House at stake—and so 2014 is the best shot for Republicans to pick up this seat before DelBene cements her hold on it through incumbency. It's a pretty good theory. And so assuming Republicans can manage to fend off their tea-bagging instincts and field a viable challenger in 2014, it should be one helluva a tough (and expensive) fight.

There isn't a lot a freshman member of the minority caucus can do to build a record of accomplishment in Congress, so DelBene appears focused on leveraging her spot on the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform to provide leadership on issues of particular interest to her state and her tech-savvy constituents in WA-01. For example, back in April, she pushed hard to get the Marketplace Fairness Act through committee, despite opposition from Judiciary chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). The Amazon-backed bill, which passed the Senate, would have meant over a billion dollars a year in additional state and local revenue for Washington State by enabling the collection of tax on Internet sales. And just yesterday DelBene was one of a handful of Democrats to join Republicans in pushing a bill through committee that would require mobile carriers to unlock cell phones once their contract is up.

“It’s important for our policy and laws to keep up with technology," DelBene told The Stranger. “Consumers should be free to switch networks with phones they already own. This bill is fundamentally about giving consumers greater choices in the marketplace."

Like I said, DelBene isn't in a position to win big legislative victories. But her strategy of building a strong record on a series of small but important tech-related issues, should pay dividends when she runs for reelection from this tech-dependent district.