This week on Slog, we’re looking back at a few of our favorite blog posts from the year. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get the hell out of 2020. The new year represents an opportunity for change and progress, and an interview that made me a little more hopeful about the next year came from The Stranger‘s Rich Smith and Seattle’s Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.

I keep thinking about Jayapal’s quote on infrastructure in here: “I think we could pass a big infrastructure package—a really bold one, even with a split Senate, because it’s very popular across the country.” Please, Pramila. These bridges need some love.

ICYMI: Reader support is what enables The Stranger’s dedicated six-person editorial team to continue bringing you the progressive and humorous journalism that documents our region. This year, we’re asking you to give yourself and Seattle the gift of The Stranger. You can even gift it to a friend! Make a contribution in their name, and we’ll send them a personalized thank you note.

Thanks, and enjoy Rich’s post, re-upped below. —Eds. Note

Originally published on Nov 16, 2020.
Seattles Congresswoman.
Seattle’s Congresswoman. JOHN BOAL

We’ll have to wait for all the votes to be counted, but on Friday afternoon Seattle Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal felt confident that she won more votes than any other member of Congress for the second time in a row. “I checked some of the likely ones, and I haven’t found a member who has more votes yet,” she said over the phone.

This didn’t come up on the call, but so far House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled in a little over 280,100 votes this year. Jayapal has earned over 386,300 votes. Just sayin’.

In any event, there’s a lot of hot talk about the 2020 election results. Who should we blame credit for the Biden/Harris victory? Which issues may or may not have contributed to Democratic losses down-ballot? And what legislation could possibly emerge from a Biden administration with a split Senate and a bloodied House? As the potential next solo chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I asked Jayapal for her take on the intra-party battle and her plan for what’s next.

Rich Smith is The Stranger's former News Editor. He writes about politics, books, and performance. You can read his poems at www.richsmithpoetry.com