In the course of his military service Pete was stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana and Ft. Benning, Georgia as well as overseas in Japan.

Upon returning to the Puget Sound area, von Reichbauer was approached by friend and then-State Senator Booth Gardner about running for public office.

In a special election held in 1973 von Reichbauer ran a campaign that narrowly defeated 30th District Republican incumbent Mike Mattingly.

After opposing a number of party line positions as a Democrat, von Reichbauer shook up Washington State politics on February 13, 1981, when he switched from a Democrat to a Republican in what was described as "the new St. Valentine's Day Massacre" and delivered the senate's tenuous 25-24 majority into the hands of the Republican Party.

"[10] However, Von Reichbauer survived the following recall effort and served in the Senate until he left his seat in midterm to run for the King County Council.

[12] In 1993 von Reichbauer defeated State Representative Jean Marie Brough in the Republican primary election and defeated Federal Way mayor Bob Stead in the general election to become the District 7 King County Councilmember.

By early 1996, von Reichbauer had identified Microsoft co-founder and Seattle-area resident Paul Allen as a potential buyer of the team.

"[18] In addition to his positions in public office, Pete von Reichbauer served as a founding board member the Boys and Girls Club of Federal Way, a board member of St. Francis Hospital, and President of the Kiwanis Club.