7th Congressional District candidate Steve Beren has released a radio ad that acknowledges the difficulty of getting elected as a Republican in Seattle. His 30-second ad, which he is running on local radio channels starting this week, urges Seattle's heavily Democratic voters: "C'mon, vote Republican for a change!"

He's running against 10-term incumbent Jim McDermott, a liberal Democrat who has never gotten less than three-quarters of the vote in a re-election run.

I wrote a story about McDermott's challengers before the primary, in which Beren admits he's a long-shot for the seat.

Still, he's running an active campaign and has been trying in vain to get McDermott to debate him.
Beren finished the primary better than McDermott's other four challengers -- with almost 15 percent of the vote. McDermott had 73 percent.

His radio ad, which you can hear here, is about Beren's plan to drill more domestic oil. "I'll help John McCain and Sarah Palin shake things up," he says.