Republican Dino Rossi concedes to Democrat Kim Schrier in competitive Washington House race

• Republican Dino Rossi concedes to Democrat Kim Schrier in Washington's 8th District House election.
• The victory will pad Democrats' projected House majority.

Republican Dino Rossi conceded to Democrat Kim Schrier in the Washington 8th District House race on Wednesday night.

With the pediatrician's win, Democrats are set to pick up another House seat and pad their projected House majority. NBC News later called Schrier the apparent winner in the race.

In a statement late Wednesday, the Democrat said "Congress is broken" and the district elected her "to bring a dose of common sense" to Washington, D.C. She outlined priorities including lowering drug prices and protecting insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

Schrier survived a crowded primary during her bid to represent this suburban Seattle district. She will be the first Democrat to represent the Washington 8th District since it was created nearly four decades ago. Yet voters in the district voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 3 percentage points. Barack Obama won it by 1.6 points in 2012 and 4.7 points in 2008.

With a median household income of more than $83,000 in 2017, Washington's 8th District is wealthier than most congressional districts and somewhat better educated. The seat represents a diverse collection of voters, from suburban high tech workers to rural farmers.

The seat became an open race following the retirement of seven-term moderate Republican incumbent Dave Reichert.

Schrier outspent her Republican rival by a healthy margin, raising roughly $7 million, a third of it from out-of-state donors. Rossi raised about $4.4 million. Both also enjoyed strong outside spending support from political action committees and other "soft money" groups, most of which was spent on attack ads against both candidates.

Those outside groups spent more than $16 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Some $3 million came from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The GOP spent $3.5 million via the Congressional Leadership Fund and nearly $2 million via the National Republican Congressional Committee.