On Sunday afternoon a group of over a hundred people gathered at the Auburn Machinists Union Hall for a meet-the-candidates forum organized by WA 8th CD Alliance and moderated by Stephan Cox, host of the Washington State Indivisible Podcast.
Faces in the crowd looked hopeful, anxious, skeptical. Though election day is still 13 months away, the people of Washington's 8th congressional district are already feeling the pressure to pick their preferred Democratic challenger. They know the race will likely draw a lot of money and national attention. They know they have a chance to turn the red district blue, and they know early support is crucial to that end. But nobody wants to bet on the wrong horse or split the vote. Retired software engineer Greg Robbins, 52, summed it up neatly: "Living in the district as a Democrat has been depressing for decades," he said. "I'm looking for someone who's going to be an aggressive campaigner, someone who can actually take on the Republican and win."
Before we get into which candidate impressed the audience most, we're due for a small update on the race.
This morning Issaquah Council Member and mechanical engineer Tola Marts dropped out. In a statement Marts said he was "unable to raise the necessary funds to field a competitive Congressional campaign in such a crowded race." This news comes more than a week after three-time statewide election loser and living Brooks Brothers suit Dino Rossi entered the race on the Republican side following the announcement that Congressman Dave Reichert won't run for re-election. Marts was the only elected official running for the newly open seat, and one of the few who's lived in the district for a meaningful number of years. His absence narrows the field to six, only five of whom spoke at the event yesterday.
Businesswoman Mona Das came out with the most progressive platform. After asking the crowd to stand and congratulate themselves for being involved, she told the story of her parents coming to the U.S. with only $6 in their pockets and said she was running for those who don't have a voice in politics. She strongly advocated for green jobs, and announced her support for Bernie Sanders's Medicare for All bill as well as the In the Red Act, a combo bill designed to lower student debt.
Jason Rittereiser, a prosecutor from Ellensberg who's fresh off his month-long town hall tour of the district, offered a less progressive but more detailed list of policy proposals. He wants to expand Medicare and Medicaid, pass legislation to promote "a living wage," tweak Dodd-Frank to free up some money for small business loans, cut interest rates on student loans, and create jobs around renewable energy right here in Washington.
Fumbling with her notes while reminding the crowd that she wasn't a "career politician," Dr. Kim Schrier more or less agreed with Rittereiser and Das on policy issues and relied on her experience as a pediatrician to distinguish herself where she could. She wants green jobs, better immigration policies, and to lower the age for Medicare enrollment, too, she'd just like to add that we also need to be negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to get lower prices. Despite underpreforming at this event, today she announced she raised $270,000 in her first quarter of fundraising, which is likely the most or second-most anyone else has raised so far.
"Software's fun, but this is rewarding," said former legislative director for Jim McDermott and current MGMT at Amazon, Toby Whitney. With condescension dripping down his impeccably trimmed beard, he used arcane language to describe his otherwise pretty sensible plans. He said he wanted to fight for a public option, "index minimum wage to inflation," offer "multi-modal transit based on values, not project size," and institute a carbon tax. Like he said in his opening remarks, he was in the room when the ACA was drafted. A lot of his friends worked on it. He helped draft Dodd-Frank, for the love of god. I mean, he used to work in the CBO. He was the guy responsible for creating all those little graphs inferior people reference when they want to support their inferior points that he already discovered with the power of his experience and inventing hotmail WOULD YOU JUST GIVE HIM THE JOB ALREADY. IT'S HIS.
Just as my head was about to explode, Tom Cramer strolled in 30 minutes late looking like Steve Bannon's liberal brother in blue jeans and a blazer. I couldn't take my eyes off an oversized, permanent name tag he'd pinned to his lapel.
After the organizers rearranged everything to accommodate him, he stood before the crowd and gesticulated wildly with his clipboard as he laid out the central plank in his platform: "higher pay for regular people." How's he going to do that? He'll force the federal reserve to increase everyone's wages. (Is that possible? Not really.) He then went off on Medicare for All like an old man shouting at a television. On the issue of education, he couldn't believe the fools who think China is doing better than us. According to Cramer, they absolutely are not and that study everyone seems to be passing around is bunk. He's got "two high-tech sons" and said he'd adopt all of the "illegal aliens," if he could. He later corrected himself and said "undocumented people."
Of the seven people I spoke to after the event, all said they were impressed with Whitney's political experience but nervous about his likability. Several said they liked Dr. Schrier's energy and knowledge but were worried about her lack of experience. "She was less comfortable with the presentational aspects of the job," retired probation officer Roger Ledbetter said, "but she's sharp as hell and I really liked her."
Ledbetter's comments on Rittereiser echoed a number of others I'd heard on my rounds: "Jason's an excellent communicator and presents really well," he said. "When he was asked questions, his answers were specific and clear."
Many also wished they could roll all the candidates into one super candidate, someone with Das's compassion, Whitney's grasp of Washington politics, Rittereiser's presentational style, Schrier's intelligence, and Cramer's fire.
