Mercer Island City Councilman Steve Litzow will challenge Democratic Sen. Randy Gordon for the 41st Legislative District Senate seat this November. Litzow ran for a House seat in 2008 but lost to Democrat Marcie Maxwell.

Gordon, a Bellevue attorney, was appointed to the seat when Fred Jarrett left to become King County deputy executive.

“Basically, when Fred announced that he’d take the King County deputy job, we kind of looked at it and said, ‘I’ve got a good name ID in the district,’ we ran a very close race in 2008 — I lost by 748 votes — and so I decided to give it another shot,” Litzow said.

Litzow, who is running as a Republican, said his campaign will focus on boosting regional employment and improving transportation.

“The single biggest issue is obviously jobs. We need to do everything we can to encourage and attract more jobs to the region,” the Islander said. “As for transportation, this issue never goes away.”

As of now, the only two candidates for the 41st District seat are Litzow and Gordon. Litzow said he has never met his competitor personally, so it will be a fresh race.

In addition to serving on the Mercer Island City Council, Litzow holds seats in several regional organizations. He is a member of the Bellevue College Foundation Board and the Summer Search Board, a nonprofit organization that mentors at-risk students. He also has a regional assignment to the Eastside Transportation Partnership.

Litzow is a partner with the consulting firm EMM Group, Inc., and a former executive with Procter & Gamble. He is active with the Mercer Island Rotary, Chamber of Commerce and the Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club. Litzow and his wife of 21 years, Jenny, have four children.

The 41st District includes the southern portion of Bellevue, the cities of Mercer Island and Newcastle, and portions of Renton and Issaquah.

Elizabeth Celms is a writer for the Mercer Island Reporter. She can be reached at ecelms@mi-reporter.com or 206-232-1215.