U.S. Representative
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) | 76,116 | 55.48% |
| Rich Cowan (D) | 46,031 | 33.55% |
| Randall Yearout (R) | 10,743 | 7.83% |
| Ian Moody (N) | 4,307 | 3.14% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
About the Race
Top two candidates with the most votes will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $174,000 per year, plus healthcare and other benefits.
Featured Candidates
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 55
- City:
- Spokane, Washington
- Occupation:
- U.S. congresswoman
Education: Graduated from the Columbia River Christian Academy, Kettle Falls, in 1986. Earned pre-law bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College in 1990 and executive MBA from the University of Washington in 2002.
Political experience: Appointed to state House of Representatives, serving the 7th Legislative District, in 1993. Elected to state House in 1994, where she served until joining Congress. Elected to Congress in 2004. Former Vice Chair of House Republican Conference. Elected chairwoman of House Republican Conference in 2013. Serves as ranking member of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee since 2021.
Work experience: Aide to state representative, 1990-93. Worked at her family orchard and fruit stand for 13 years, prior to election to Congress.
Family: Married. Has three young children.
Rich Cowan
- Party:
- Democrat
- Age:
- 68
- City:
- Spokane, WA
- Occupation:
- CEO and founder, North by Northwest
RICH COWAN
Education: Graduated from Juanita High School in Kirkland, Wash. in 1974. Earned broadcast journalism degree from Washington State University in 1979. Earned human nutrition master’s degree from WSU in 1984.
Work experience: Co-founded North by Northwest Productions in 1990. Worked as the community affairs director for KHQ-TV from 1986-1990. Served as a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Washington State University while a college student. Served on Community Colleges of Spokane Vocational Advicsory Council in mid-1990s. Former Eagle Scout.
Political experience: Ran for Congress in 2012 against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Family: Divorced. Has two adult children.
Related Media
Complete Coverage
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Iran
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, consider if military action would be appropriate to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Income Taxes
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, give their position on letting income tax cuts expire.
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Marijuana
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, discuss their thoughts on federal marijuana rules.
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Transportation
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, discuss what they believe should be the federal government’s role in funding the North Spokane freeway and the proposed electric bus system in central Spokane.
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Guns
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, discuss their stance on the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. The two are running for Congress in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District.
House race an uphill battle: Cowan faces McMorris Rodgers
In just about any profile of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the national media, the Spokane congresswoman is inevitably labeled “a rising star” of the Republican Party. Especially this year, it’s hard to argue with that label, and unless Democrat Rich Cowan can manage the difficult feat of defeating her in November, she’s expected to continue to climb.
Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Priorities
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, talk about their top priorities for a new term in Congress. The two are running for Congress in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District.
Three-step plan to eradicate scourge of campaign malarkey
I have a three-point plan: Get shock collars. Strap them onto the candidates. Attempt, through vigorous zapping, to train them away from some of the emptiest forms of blather they are heaping upon us. The season of malarkey is in full flower, and it will only bloom more intensely between now and Election Day. It is a pageant of baloney, a peacock’s tail of every shimmering shade of the false, the not-quite-true, the overstated, the understated, the empty, the twisted – and the rotely repeated. Oh, the repeated. It is as though there is a bank of empty phrases handed out by lottery, and candidates are forbidden from saying anything original.
Gridlock in Congress a hot debate topic
Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, in the final debate before the November election, defended her eight years in Congress and argued that she has worked for bipartisanship in Congress. “We need leadership. We need both parties, Republicans and Democrats, working together,” McMorris Rodgers said Friday morning at the debate at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park. “When you look at my record you’ll see one where I have reached across the aisle to get the job done.”
McMorris Rodgers, Cowan debate for final time
The final debate between U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rich Cowan was held Friday morning by Greater Spokane, Inc., the region’s chamber of commerce.
McMorris Rodgers, Cowan share views during debate
The Democratic opponent of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the November election used much of their first debate working to portray the incumbent Republican as an ingrained fixture in a bickering Congress. “The biggest thing I hear is, ‘Where is our representative?’ She’s not here. She’s in the other Washington, serving the other Washington,” said Democrat Rich Cowan, the founder of North by Northwest Productions in Spokane.
Cowan targets McMorris Rodgers in ads
Democratic challenger Rich Cowan is attempting to take U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to task for her work trying to elect or re-elect other Republicans to Congress. His latest ads, and a separate “where is Cathy” website, poke fun at the four-term congresswoman for visits across the country, from New York and Florida to California and Nevada, in support of other GOP candidates. He calls contributions she makes from the CMR Political Action Committee, her separate leadership PAC, efforts to “re-elect a broken Congress.”
Politicians hail progress on corridor
It may be an election year, but Democrats and Republicans agreed on Tuesday that completion of the northern half of the North Spokane Corridor was a bipartisan accomplishment. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, were joined by Spokane County GOP Commissioner Todd Mielke and state Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane. All are running for office this fall.