PROGRESSIVE VOTERS GUIDE

Senator Maria Cantwell was first elected in 2000 and continues to represent our state's progressive values in our nation's capital. Sen. Cantwell has been a leader on a wide range of issues, including reproductive rights, supporting the Children's Health Insurance Program, defending net neutrality, passing oil spill legislation to protect our water, working on clean energy policies, and much more.

There are 29 challengers in this race, but the most serious is Republican Susan Hutchison. Hutchison is a former news anchor and past chair of the state Republican Party. She ran for King County Executive in 2009 and lost by twenty points. Hutchison is well-known for being a party-line Republican and for her fierce defense of President Trump. Also running in this race is Joey Gibson, a far-right advocate who founded Patriot Prayer, a conservative "free speech" group that attracts largely white nationalists.

Sen. Cantwell has been a tireless advocate for the people of Washington state and is the best choice in this race.

Representative Suzan DelBene has served the 1st Congressional District since 2013. DelBene is a former executive at Microsoft who has used her technology background to become a leader in protecting privacy rights against government surveillance. Her priorities include creating family wage jobs in areas like the aerospace, sustainable agriculture, and clean energy industries. She also supports raising the federal minimum wage and passing comprehensive tax reform to ensure that those making more than a million dollars don't pay a lower tax rate than low- and middle-income families.

Rep. DelBene is running against Scott Stafne, Jeffrey Beeler, Adam Pilskog, and Robert Mair. Republican Scott Stafne is an attorney who is running to reform the judicial system and to grow the middle class. Jeffrey Beeler is focused on "securing our borders," health care, and the deficit. Teacher Adam Pilskog is running on a "conservative approach to fiscal policy, and a liberal to libertarian approach to social issues." Mair has no platform or information available at this time.

Rep. DelBene is clearly the best choice in this race.

Representative Rick Larsen is a moderate Democrat who has been a strong advocate for jobs, transportation, and infrastructure projects in the 2nd District. Before serving in Congress, he served on the Snohomish County Council and worked on economic development for the City of Everett. Rep. Larsen has also supported efforts to protect voting rights, fought to reform student loans, and championed Wall Street reform. Unfortunately, Larsen joined Republicans to repeal some banking rules imposed after the Great Recession intended to prevent another economic collapse.

He is running against Uncle Mover, a perennial candidate who runs to advertise his business, Democrat Collin Richard Carlson, who is running on his entirely rewritten federal budget plan, Libertarian Brian Luke, Independent Gary Franco, and Green Party candidate Stonewall Jackson Bird, who is running on progressive values but isn't running a competitive campaign.

It’s time for new leadership in Congress, and that starts here in Eastern Washington with Lisa Brown. Brown is a former state Senator and chancellor of Washington State University Spokane. Brown is committed to building an economy that works for all of us and ensuring access to quality, affordable health care for every family. She is focused on listening to the needs of our local communities, not lobbyists, campaign donors, and national political leaders. She will protect our local environment, and supports reproductive rights and comprehensive immigration reform that protects Dreamers.

Brown’s opponent, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, is a party-line member of the House Republican leadership who has lost touch with the people she is supposed to represent. McMorris Rodgers was an enthusiastic supporter of the Republicans’ $1.5 trillion tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations. Last year, McMorris Rodgers was the only member of the Washington state delegation to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would have eliminated health care for 23 million Americans, including approx. 30,000 people in Eastern Washington.

Also running against Rep. McMorris Rodgers are conservatives Jered Gavin Bonneau, Kari Olavi Ilonummi, and Dave Saulibio, who are not running competitive campaigns. Brown is the clear choice in this race because she will always put working families first. Vote Lisa Brown for Congress.

Representative Derek Kilmer is a moderate Democrat who is a reliable supporter of job creation and infrastructure improvement. He has been a leader on small business development and protecting the Puget Sound during his three terms in Congress. A former state senator, he previously worked as a business consultant and economic development official. Kilmer is a sponsor of a clean Dream Act in support of immigrants who arrived in the country as children with their undocumented parents. He supports commonsense gun safety legislation and cosponsored the Voter Empowerment Act, an online voter registration act that helps keep voting rights equitable. Rep. Kilmer has also worked on several environmental bills, including the Wild Olympics Wilderness and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

Kilmer is running against progressive candidate Tyler Myles Vega and Republican Douglas Dightman. Political newcomer Vega is running on a platform of increasing the size of the House of Representatives, sustainability, and checking the size of the military. Dightman is a family physician running on a platform of supporting national defense and the free market. Kilmer is widely supported by our progressive partners and is the best choice in this race.

Representative Pramila Jayapal has a long history of civic leadership on immigration reform, economic fairness, and civil liberties. She founded OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone) in 2001 and built it into the largest immigrant rights organization in the state and a national model. Rep. Jayapal also played a key role on the Mayoral Advisory Committee that created Seattle’s $15 minimum wage.

In her first term in Congress, Rep. Jayapal has fought the Trump administration at every turn and provided a voice for progressives across the country. She has supported the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the Dream Act that would provide a path to citizenship for young DACA recipients. She has also fought back against the Trump administration's inhumane policy of separating families seeking asylum and she introduced legislation that paves a pathway towards a universal health care system.

Her opponent Seattle resident Craig Keller is most well-known as the founder of an anti-immigrant organization that tried to repeal the City of Burien's sanctuary city ordinance. His organization has been recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.

Rep. Jayapal is by far the best choice in this race.

Representative Adam Smith is a moderate Democrat who has been a reliable vote on progressive taxation and immigration reform. He represents Washington's first majority-minority district, a community with 30 percent foreign-born residents and large Asian, Hispanic, and African-American communities. Rep. Smith is an advocate for greater equality, supports a path to citizenship for immigrants, reforming the tax code, and making health care accessible to all. Rep. Smith has used his position on the Armed Services Committee to introduce and support legislation that tempers Trump's belligerent foreign policy moves, including a bill that states the U.S. will not strike a country with nuclear weapons first.

Smith is running against Republican Doug Basler and Democrat Sarah Smith. Basler is the owner of a TV advertising production company who is running again after losing his 2014 race against Smith. Basler is also the Senior Vice Chairman of the King County Republican Party and is running a campaign against H1-B and guest worker visas, as well as against "career politicians." Sarah Smith is challenging Rep. Smith from the left on a comprehensive progressive platform, including raising the federal minimum wage and making tuition free at public colleges. Her anti-war sentiments represent the biggest difference between her and Smith.

Rep. Adam Smith has earned your vote in this race.

Incumbent Denny Heck has had a long, effective career in both the private and public sectors. In Olympia, he served as a five-term state representative, House majority leader, chief of staff to former Gov. Booth Gardner, and is the co-founder of TVW, Washington state's public affairs network. In Congress, he has fought to make college more affordable, lower health care costs, ensure veterans get the benefits they deserve, and create middle class jobs. He supports immigration policies that create a path to citizenship, and has been working this year to help prevent health care premium increases due to Trump's policies.

Heck is running against Republican Joseph Brumbles, Independent Centrist Nancy Dailey Slotnick, and Independent Progressive Tamborine Borrelli. Brumbles is a business manager and a gun rights advocate. His campaign platform is undetailed and states that he is standing for "liberty." Slotnick is a U.S. Army veteran who seeks to reduce partisanship in politics and put people first. Borrelli is a small business owner and local activist who was inspired to run for office by Bernie Sanders' campaign. She is running to fully fund education, close unnecessary corporate tax loopholes, and to get money out of politics.

Heck is the best choice in this race.