Other Candidates
There are three conservatives running for Position 2. Republican Carmen Goers is a commercial lending officer who serves on the Auburn Human Services Committee and the Kent Special Events Center Public Facilities District. Her campaign agenda as of late June, unfortunately, is not very detailed. It makes no mention of a wide range of policies critical to voters, including the housing crisis, abortion access, health care, or education. Instead, Goers repeats the party-line talking point that she will reduce regulations on businesses, which legislative Republicans have used as a front for reducing environmental regulations and protections for consumers and workers. Goers' superficial platform does not reflect the needs and priorities of the district.
Republican Ted Cooke also ran for this position in 2020. His answers to the Auburn Examiner's candidate questionnaire in 2020 reveal his far-right positions, including opposition to reproductive freedom. He was open to selling national parks to corporate entities, opposed protecting workers' bargaining rights, and opposed Washington's highly-successful vote-by-mail system. This year, Cooke's agenda is no better. He is running to remove age-appropriate sexual health education from schools, cut environmental energy protections, and continue to whip up fear around election security.
The former chair of the 47th District Republicans, Barry Knowles, might be the most extreme out of this very conservative slate. He is strongly anti-public education, stating that he does not believe in teaching students about diversity or funding staffing, and he believes all subjects other than math, reading, English, and science should be eliminated from the school curriculum. He believes the housing crisis can be solved by forcing people to leave for other states. His policy position on inflation, public safety, and the economy are full of frantic and divisive rhetoric about government, and without substantive solutions for the district.
Other Candidates - Carmen Goers
There are three conservatives running for Position 2. Republican Carmen Goers is a commercial lending officer who serves on the Auburn Human Services Committee and the Kent Special Events Center Public Facilities District. Her campaign agenda as of late June, unfortunately, is not very detailed.
There are two Democrats running for Congress in Washington’s 9th District with fairly different platforms and political philosophies: incumbent Adam Smith and challenger Stephanie Gallardo. We lean toward Smith because he has received far more endorsements from elected officials and our Progressive Voters Guide partner organizations. Read the full recommendation below to find the candidate that best fits your values and priorities.