10 congressional candidates talk abortion, immigration, and much more

Bernadine Bank

Bank supports the goal in theory, saying it’s good to “aim high,” and wants to see the rollout of all renewable energy sectors including nuclear. Supports recent investments to build out the country’s passenger rail system, and wants to see more investment in fire mitigation and soil health. She is wary of putting too much focus on electric cars, which she believes are still not affordable or technologically advanced enough to be a viable replacement.

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said the goal is “not serious” and political posturing. He supports “all of the above” energy production, including both fossil fuels and clean renewables.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle supports the goal conceptually, saying he believes “God created the earth and we should protect it,” but believes mandates to accomplish zero emissions are “crushing the poor…and subsidizing the rich.” He supports deregulating the nuclear energy sector and believes small-scale nuclear reactors are a better way to lower emissions.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy called it an ambitious goal, saying that climate change threatens the nation’s agriculture and the health of vulnerable populations. She supports investments to help people adapt to climate change and incentives to slow emissions.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus supports the goal in theory but believes it is unrealistic because of the “commercial interests at play.” She argues that Congress will not take sufficient action to mitigate carbon emissions as long as legislators are influenced by corporate money. She supports laws to reduce plastic waste, particularly in packaging and disposable items and wants to see more agriculture regionalized, including regional slaughterhouses so food does not travel as far before reaching store shelves. She also supports other programs to reduce waste, such as investing in companies that make use of agricultural waste products.

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel said the goal is a “talking point for the Democratic Party” to “apease folks on the extreme left,” and believes net-zero emissions are not possible. He said the free market should decide when and whether technology changes over time.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn called the goal great, but doubts it can be accomplished in that timeframe. He supports building out more solar and wind power.

Rene Holaday

Holaday does not believe climate change is real, having previously compared the issue to bigfoot and unicorns. She believes the U.S. should build out its oil production and refining capacity.

Jacquelin Maycumber

No. Maycumber believes emission reduction goals burden the poorest in Washington. However, she supports investing in improving and building out renewable energy technology, particularly hydropower and small-scale nuclear reactors.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank believes building out nuclear power is one of the most important components of clean energy production, arguing that safety concerns are outdated as the technology has improved.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner said that nuclear power should play an important role in the country’s future energy production, noting that France meets most of its energy needs through nuclear reactors. He added that small-scale nuclear reactors could be a promising technology in the near- to mid-term.

Jonathan Bingle

Yes. Bingle said he is concerned about possible environmental impacts from uranium mining, noting the pollution from a former mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation, but otherwise believes it is one of the most important components of a cleaner energy system.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy said she wasn’t familiar enough with the exact deregulation to have a position. She supports nuclear energy so long as it has a “safety-at-all-costs” approach.

Ann Marie Danimus

Maybe. Danimus is concerned about nuclear waste products and safety, but believes nuclear power is a vital “bridge technology” as the country transitions from fossil fuels to other renewable energy sources.

Brian Dansel

Yes. Dansel believes that nuclear power is a worthwhile addition to the country’s energy portfolio and is more skeptical of wind and solar power.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Maybe. Flynn supports nuclear power conceptually, but wants to see improved methods of waste disposal. He named ejecting nuclear waste into outer space as a possible solution.

Rene Holaday

Yes. Holaday said she supports nuclear power.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maybe. Maycumber said she had not read the bill and couldn’t take a position on it specifically, but is very supportive of small-scale nuclear reactors and is encouraged by advancements in that sector. She is more hesitant about larger reactors.

Bernadine Bank

Not really. Bank said she’s focused on investments to mitigate the negative impacts of dams and is encouraged by recent advances and a major settlement with regional tribes. She argues that conversations about breaching aren’t reasonable unless all aspects of the energy production, irrigation and transportation are adequately replaced beforehand.

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner believes the dams are critical infrastructure for the region and that removal would have devastating consequences, particularly to agriculture. He supports further buildout of the Columbia Basin Project, which was originally supposed to irrigate a significantly larger area than it has.

Jonathan Bingle

No. Bingle wants to make sure that the impacts on salmon and treaties with regional tribes are treated seriously, but believes the focus should be on improving the dams, not removing them.

Carmela Conroy

Not really. Conroy said that it would be great to have alternatives to all of the benefits of the Snake River dams so they could be breached without consequence but does not believe that is feasible. She added that the negative impacts on salmon and regional tribes need to be mitigated, but believes that is possible.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus said she believes constituents care about the benefits the dams provide, not the dams themselves, so if those benefits were replaced she would support breaching the dams. Unlike other Democrats with similar positions, Danimus argues it is possible to replicate the benefits of the dams through other means.

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel said the benefits of the dams are too significant and instead wants to see further buildout of the Columbia Basin Project, which originally was planned to irrigate a significantly larger area than it has.

Rick Valentine Flynn

No. Flynn said the technology mitigating the negative impacts of the dams assuage most of his concerns, and he would like to see further advancements along those lines rather than breach the dams.

Rene Holaday

No. Holaday said the dams should be “reinforced and improved.”

Jacquelin Maycumber

No. Maycumber does not believe it's feasible to replace the benefits from the Snake River dams.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank believes there is no good reason for bump stocks to be owned.

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner noted that he voted against a bump stock ban when he was in the state Legislature and said he would do the same in Congress.

Jonathan Bingle

No. Bingle said that he broadly believes any equipment owned by police should be available to the general public.

Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus called bump stocks dangerous and unnecessary.

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel said he doesn’t believe bump stocks themselves are harmful, and that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas would have occurred without them. He believes banning them would infringe on the Second Amendment.

Rick Valentine Flynn

No. Flynn doesn’t believe regulating bump stocks would have a meaningful affect, arguing that some people can simply pull a trigger faster without one and that regulation wouldn’t prevent their use.

Rene Holaday

No. Holaday believes banning bump stocks infringes on the Second Amendment.

Jacquelin Maycumber

No.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank supports extending the draft to women with some flexibility for people to take non-combat roles.

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said that he wants to see healthier high schoolers with “less drug use and better physical fitness and less mental health challenges” in order to ensure the nation has a healthy fighting force. He speculated that the proposal to include women in the draft was part of efforts to use the military as a “political football to advance any number of agendas…”

Jonathan Bingle

No. Bingle said that he doesn’t believe “we should send our women off to war.” While he supports allowing women to voluntarily enter the military, he doesn’t support a draft or “sending them to the front lines either.”

Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Ann Marie Danimus

No, but Danimus does not believe the nation should have a mandatory draft at all.

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel said he is grateful to the women serving in the military, but he prefers “the old fashioned position that young men…should do everything we can to protect the ladies in our life.”

Rick Valentine Flynn

Yes. Flynn said that, if the draft will be applied to one group, it should apply to everyone.

Rene Holaday

No. Holaday said she does not support allowing women to be in the military outside of administrative and nursing roles.

Jacquelin Maycumber

No, not at this time. Maycumber supports allowing women to voluntarily enter the military.

Bernadine Bank

Bank believes she could work with Republicans on border security, nuclear power, mental healthcare access, and undoing the controversial VA medical records system rolled out initially at the Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center and a few others across the country.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said he had a track record of building coalitions to advance legislation despite having a narrow majority during some of his time in the state Senate, and believes he could work with Democrats on international security and to improve higher education, protect the Snake River Dams and develop nuclear power.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle believes he could work with Democrats on supporting nuclear power, some foreign policy positions, such as on China, and in some regards on border policy.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy believes she could work with Republicans on bills supporting agriculture and farmers and providing food to people facing poverty.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus believes she could work with Republicans on bills supporting agriculture and farmers, on border security, and extending Medicare and Medicaid payments to equipment needed by the disabled, such as handrails in their homes.

Brian Dansel

Dansel said he believes he could work with Democrats on border security, extending the Trump-era tax cuts, and “parents having more say in a child’s education.”

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn highlighted his frequent overlap with Democratic positions, saying he could work with Democrats on gun control such as raising the age to purchase a gun to 21.

Rene Holaday

Holaday said she could work with Democrats to stop child trafficking.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber believes she could work with Democrats on border security, building out domestic energy production, improving education opportunities and reducing healthcare costs.

Bernadine Bank

Bank supports improved security at the border and monitoring of drugs being sent through the mail, as well as federal investments in expanding mental health, rehab and addiction treatment facilities and better youth education and services.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports improved security at the border and cracking down on supply chains from China, including with possible sanctions.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle supports disrupting supply chains from China, including with the use of the military and improved security at the border. He also believes the U.S. should collaborate with Mexico to target cartels.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports investments for Customs and Border Protection to intercept fentanyl as it enters the country, as well as improved addiction and behavioral health treatment.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus supports investments for Customs and Border Protection to intercept fentanyl as it enters the country, as well as addiction treatment and pain clinics to help patients deal with their pain as opioids become less available.

Brian Dansel

Dansel supports improved border security, “severely increased” penalties for drug dealers, education campaigns in schools, wide distribution of the overdose-stopping drug Narcan and investment in addiction treatment services, though Dansel added that he’s concerned about programs that “enable” people addicted to drugs.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn supports improved security at the border and customs enforcement.

Rene Holaday

Holaday supports sending the U.S. military to the southern border to “clean up all the cartels and secure the border,” as well as completing a border wall.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber supports improved border security, disrupting supply chains, conducting “large-scale operations” to disrupt cartels within the United States, and improving access to mental healthcare and addiction treatment.

Bernadine Bank

Supports letting them expire, arguing that they had a lopsided benefit to wealthier Americans that exacerbated income inequality.

Michael Baumgartner

Supports renewal. Baumgartner said that the tax relief to businesses was needed so they could compete globally.

Jonathan Bingle

Supports even deeper tax cuts. Bingle said he wants to further lower corporate tax rates from 21% to 15%, accompanied with a “dramatic cut” of the federal budget.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy supported renewing the tax cuts that affect lower- and middle-class people and letting them expire for corporations and the wealthy. She was the only Democrat to note that slashed corporate tax rates would not expire naturally and supports undoing that cut.

Ann Marie Danimus

Supports renewing tax cuts to lower- and middle-class individuals and allowing corporate tax cuts to expire.

Brian Dansel

Supports renewal. Dansel said he supported policies that “leave more money in the pockets” of taxpayers, and would vote for more tax cuts.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Would let them expire. Flynn said the country has been “doing too much worshipping of the super rich,” and that “giving tax cuts to the rich so they could create jobs, that no longer holds true…” He supports a tax code that relies more heavily on corporate taxes and less on income taxes.

Rene Holaday

Supports renewal.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Supports renewal. Maycumber argues that supporting businesses is necessary to support the broader economy.

Bernadine Bank

Supports renewal. Bank also said the federal government should subsidize “healthy food, clean water and good schooling” for low income families.

Michael Baumgartner

Supports renewal. Baumgartner added that renewing the expanded tax credit would likely have to come with other tax and spending reforms.

Jonathan Bingle

Possibly supports renewal. Bingle prefers tax deductions rather than tax credits, but believes that incentivizing people to start families is one of the rare cases where he supports government incentives.

Carmela Conroy

Supports renewal. Conroy supports expanding free and reduced lunch programs and wants to see Congress work to extend the food stamp program.

Ann Marie Danimus

Supports renewal, though Danimus worries that Democrats are over reliant on economic “Band-Aids” while supporting economic policies that broadly benefit the wealthy. She argues that Congress should be more focused on lifting people out of poverty by building an economy that lifts people into the middle class.

Brian Dansel

Supports renewal, but potentially with some kind of sunsetting and continued analysis of its effects. He said he doesn’t “know about additional steps needed” to address childhood poverty.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Supports renewal. Flynn supports expanding the child tax credit and other safety nets for children, in part to encourage people to have children amid falling birth rates.

Rene Holaday

Supports renewal. Holaday said that she supports any tax cuts that encourage people to have more children, noting that the birth rate was falling and “the true original Americans here right now are going extinct.”

Jacquelin Maycumber

Supports renewal. Maycumber supports investing in education and job training programs, believing that wider access to better paying jobs are key to lifting children out of poverty. She also wants to make lines of credit more easily available to rural and low-income areas.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank believes the same principle could be applied widely to encourage domestic industries, such as the research and development of renewable energy technologies and in the transportation sector.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes, though Baumgartner is reluctant to have the government support particular industries, worried that it would “pick winners and losers” and interject itself in market forces. He supports some government investments in microchip production and domestic mining of rare earth minerals.

Jonathan Bingle

Possibly. Bingle is reluctant to “manipulate markets,” but believes there are certain cases where doing so could be a national security priority. Domestic microchip production might be one of those cases, he said.

Carmela Conroy

Yes. She broadly supports the federal government providing “seed money” to get domestic industries to a point that they can compete globally. Specifically, she pointed to the aerospace industry as an example.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus thinks the same principle should be applied to encouraging domestic manufacturing of medications and increasing domestic production of food.

Brian Dansel

Yes, given how important semiconductors are to American manufacturing, such as in the automobile sector. He supported extending this type of policy to domestic manufacturing of generic drugs.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Yes. He would like to extend federal support of domestic manufacturing to “general goods…crop tops, microwaves, basic items that could be made anywhere,” arguing that though the items may cost more to produce in the U.S., it is cheaper and more efficient to avoid shipping low-value goods internationally.

Rene Holaday

Yes, though she said she would prefer to encourage domestic manufacturing through “huge tax cuts in every industry, especially the auto industry.”

Jacquelin Maycumber

Possibly. Maycumber said she would have to look more closely at the bill’s details. She prefers deregulation as a way to incentivize domestic industries, as opposed to providing seed money.

Bernadine Bank

Bank supports the Affordable Care Act and price caps on certain medications based on the cost of those drugs in other countries such as Canada.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports better price transparency so people can understand the costs hospitals are charging for procedures and expanding or creating new health savings account plans. He opposes a move toward single-payer healthcare systems.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle does not believe the federal government should “be in the business of healthcare.” At most, he thinks federal programs should supplement, but not replace, private healthcare plans.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports allowing the federal government to negotiate prices for drugs and medical services paid through Medicare and Medicaid, which she argues has a spillover effect lowering prices for the general public. She also supports investing in rural healthcare clinics, including VA clinics, to reduce the distance many have to travel to access care.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus wants to implement a universal healthcare system and eliminate restrictions on importing prescription drugs from Canada and other countries as a way to reduce drug costs.

Brian Dansel

Dansel said health insurance and pharmaceuticals were the only two industries where he believes more regulations were needed, saying it was “patently un-American” for people to be financially ruined by a medical episode. He added that price gougers “like Martin Shkreli” were harming Americans.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn said he supported a universal healthcare system, but doubted “voters are ready for it yet.” He added that he was particularly concerned with the quality of veterans’ healthcare, believing that the VA healthcare system should be folded into Medicare, which he argues would cut costs and improve the quality of service.

Rene Holaday

Holaday supported regulations on the pharmaceutical companies to “address price fixing and monopoly aspects,” adding that she wasn’t in favor of price regulations but wanted to encourage competition.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber supports allowing people to buy health insurance plans across state lines to increase competition, reducing penalties for employers who offer particular plans, consider raising federal reimbursement rates so that healthcare providers can hire more employees, and lowering drug prices. She believes the Affordable Care Act raised drug costs for consumers.

Bernadine Bank

Bank believes the federal government should provide incentives for new or former construction workers to enter or reenter the industry, provide more grants to encourage the development of affordable housing and subisidize first-time home buyers.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports reducing regulations, particularly “onerous environmental and labor regulations,” which he argues slow the rate of development and raise housing costs. He argues broadly that Congress has given too much authority to executive branch agencies to create regulations.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle does not believe it is the government’s role to lower housing costs. He calls for less federal spending, which he argues is a major driver of inflation, and to deregulate domestic oil and gas production to lower energy costs.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy supports subsidizing first time homebuyers so they can better compete with private equity in the real estate market and providing more grants to local governments to address their particular housing markets.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus opposes large corporate ownership of single family homes and wants to force those corporations to sell those properties, and also wants to limit the use of homes for short term rentals through services like Airbnb.

Brian Dansel

Dansel supports widespread deregulation, including on growth management laws that discourage sprawl and encourage building density, arguing that “rabid environmentalist groups” have limited development. He also called for rolling back energy codes and other building standards that add costs to development.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn supports banning “corporations and investment groups” from purchasing single family homes, arguing that the market should primarily be occupied by individual homeowners.

Rene Holaday

Holaday supported increased domestic oil production to drive down the cost of building, lowering housing costs over the long term.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber supports deregulation in order to increase the development of homes, pointing to low inventory as a primary driver of high housing costs.

Bernadine Bank

Yes, though she believes infrastructure investments and an end to COVID-era federal spending will relieve some of the pressure on the debt. Bank also believes that the cap which prevents the government from collecting Social Security income above a certain threshold, currently $168,000, should be eliminated to help fund the entitlement.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner supports eliminating “unnessecary” government agencies, pointing to the Transportation Security Administration as an example, reforming entitlement programs and examining possible wasteful spending by the Department of Defense.

Jonathan Bingle

Yes. Bingle wants to radically reform the federal budget, calling for deep cuts across the board except for certain programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. For Social Security, he believes that people who have paid in should receive the benefits they were promised, but a different program may need to be implemented for people who are currently younger than 18, because he worries the program is insolvent.

Carmela Conroy

Yes. Conroy said she supported undoing tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, increasing taxes on “highly profitable” corporations, conducting an audit of U.S. military spending and considering cuts to the Department of Defense.

Ann Marie Danimus

Somewhat. Danimus thinks there could be some “pork” cut from the federal budget, but thinks concerns over the national debt are exaggerated. She is more concerned with the debt held by individual Americans, she said, and wants to prioritize progressive tax reform.

Brian Dansel

Yes. Dansel said he was in favor of Kentucky Sen. Ron Paul’s “penny plan,” which suggested the deficit could be eliminated over time by reducing all federal spending across the board by 1%. In 2022, Paul revised this proposal, saying the deficit had grown so much that a 6% blanket cut would now be necessary.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Yes. Flynn supports “baby steps” to increased revenue through taxes and decreasing spending through cuts, though he did not name any in particular.

Rene Holaday

Yes. Holaday said the U.S. should stop “printing money, which causes insane amounts of inflation,” speeding up domestic oil production and building domestic refineries, which she argued would both reduce the debt and revive the economy.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Yes. Maycumber said that the government needs to spend more transparently and suggested eliminating the Department of Education, instead giving grants to school districts directly, as a way to cut spending.

Bernadine Bank

No. Bank argues that Ukraine is only in this situation as a result of the 1994 Budapest agreement to get rid of that new nation’s nuclear arsenal, and that the U.S. now owes Ukraine its support and security assurances. She added that the U.S. should have responded more forcefully in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner opposed pressuring Ukraine to cede territory and said it was necessary that Russia’s invasion is unsuccessful in order to deter future Russian aggression.

Jonathan Bingle

Potentially, yes. Bingle argued that Russia, a nuclear power, needs an “offramp” to the invasion, including by being able to claim victory by annexing captured territory. Bingle doubts, however, that Ukraine would agree to such terms. In any case, he questions whether the U.S. providing continued aid to Ukraine is in America’s best interest.

Carmela Conroy

No. Conroy supports preserving Ukraine’s territorial integrity and would not pressure that country to cede territory as part of possible peace negotiations.

Ann Marie Danimus

Generally, no. Danimus believes that giving Russia “an inch” would lead them to “take a mile,” and supports providing further military aid to Ukraine. However, she said that she was open to changing her position if circumstances changed.

Brian Dansel

Declined to answer a hypothetical, but emphasized that he just wants “people to stop dying.” He said he was not a “warhawk” like others in the Republican Party, and emphasized that he doesn’t want to see the U.S. entangled in overseas conflicts. He would not support continued aid to Ukraine, saying he has little interest in foreign aid broadly.

Rick Valentine Flynn

No. Flynn argued no nation should be asked to concede territory in order to end a war, and he supports continued U.S. aid to Ukraine while the war continues.

Rene Holaday

Holaday went back and forth on this issue, initially saying that Ukraine should be able to keep its borders intact and argued instead in favor of barring Ukraine from joining NATO as a bargaining chip to mollify Russia. Later, she said that it “would probably be worth it” to give up Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces in peace negotiations.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber hesitated with this question, saying that ceding territory would be a difficult decision and while she didn’t know that Congress should weigh in, she didn’t know at this time whether she would support such an action.

Bernadine Bank

Bank said it seems like the U.S. is committed to that course of action, but called it a “game day” decision.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner said the U.S. should move away from its stance of “strategic ambiguity,” the longstanding policy to not clearly state whether the U.S. would use its military to oppose a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, though he maintained that the U.S. should not support full Taiwanese independence. That issue should be settled diplomatically between Taiwan and China, he argued.

Jonathan Bingle

Yes. Bingle believes that Taiwan is too significant to the U.S. to allow China to invade or blockade it.

Carmela Conroy

Other than Baumgartner, Conroy was the only candidate to push back on the characterization that Taiwan is currently “independent,” noting the U.S.’s longstanding “One China” policy that considers Taiwan a part of China but opposes forceful reunification. She supports continued U.S. power projection in the region to dissuade an invasion by China, and said she would “probably” agree to send troops if an invasion occurred.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus hesitated to answer, saying she could not do so in “good conscience” given the risks of direct military conflict with China. She supports reducing U.S. reliance on Chinese manufacturing and other services in order to weaken China economically and its influence over the United States.

Brian Dansel

Dansel again called this “too much of a hypothetical,” saying it depends on the circumstances. He said the U.S. should lead through diplomacy and strengthen ties with its allies so that China and Russia would face maximal pain to move forward, but he declined to say how he would respond if it came to a full-flung invasion. “The juice had better be worth the squeeze.”

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn was cautious, saying the U.S. should do “everything we can short of starting a World War” to defend Taiwan. If China invaded, he argued the U.S. should initially attempt to retaliate through sanctions and other tools, but ultimately he said the U.S. needed to defend its allies, including through military force.

Rene Holaday

Yes. Holaday said she would be willing to put American boots on Taiwanese soil to counter a Chinese invasion.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber said she could not answer the question ahead of time, adding that Taiwan was an important strategic ally that needs to be protected but that she did not know if she could “send our children to war.”

Bernadine Bank

Bank said she wasn’t sure if placing conditions on further military aid would have a serious impact, but does believe the Israeli government should be pressured to improve humanitarian conditions. While she said the Israeli government was responding to an attack by a terrorist organization, she also said the Netenyahu administration was “untenable.”

Michael Baumgartner

“Practically speaking,” no. Baumgartner emphasized the need for the U.S. to stand strongly with Israel to defeat Hamas.

Jonathan Bingle

He said all foreign aid should be ‘conditional,’ with the condition being “is it helping the citizens of the United States.” In the case of military aid to Israel, Bingle believes that threshold is met, because Israel is “the only western country in that region and we need to support western countries around the world.”

Carmela Conroy

Conroy said she is troubled by possible war crimes being committed under the watch of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu, but worries that removing America’s security umbrella from Israel would destabilize the Middle East. She ultimately said she would support the diplomatic position of the presidential administration at the time, including sending or withholding aid.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus further argued that all U.S. military aid should come with conditions about how weapons are used.

Brian Dansel

Dansel argued that Israel is the U.S.’ greatest ally in the region and would not criticize that country’s actions in Gaza. However, he more broadly expressed skepticism with foreign aid, saying he felt the U.S. was used around the world as a “neverending credit card.”

Rick Valentine Flynn

Potentially. Flynn said that the U.S. could consider withholding future aid to Israel if that country “disregards our advice” on how to conduct itself using American-made weapons.

Rene Holaday

No. Holaday argued the U.S. should not tell Israel how to fight its battles.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Theoretically, depending on the circumstances, but not under current conditions. Maycumber supported a major aid package to Israel approved in April, calling that country an important ally and condemning the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Bernadine Bank

“Poor Africa, it’s deja vu all over again,” she said, adding that the U.S. has a responsibility to provide diplomatic support and humanitarian aid.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner supports providing humanitarian relief to Sudan, and possible military action against specific terrorist groups, but emphasized that broader military intervention was “not advisable,” arguing America “can’t be the world’s policeman.”

Jonathan Bingle

Rather than address Sudan’s situation specifically, Bingle returned to his earlier position that foreign aid should only be given when it is in the “interest of the American people.” He did not say whether this was the case for Sudan, though he noted that aid to African nations could in some cases be useful to combat the diplomatic and economic influence of rival powers like China.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy said the U.S. should focus on diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the region, particularly by providing support to United Nations agencies.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus said she was “completely ignorant” about the crisis in Sudan, but added that she broadly supports humanitarian and development aid to African countries to counter Chinese influence in the region and to encourage African economic and political stability.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn supports humanitarian aid and maintaining a “peacekeeping presence” through the United Nations, but generally opposes unilateral intervention by the U.S., arguing it often erodes America’s reputation globally.

Rene Holaday

Holaday’s concerns were solely focused on the persecution of Christians in Sudan amid the civil war there, saying she would be willing to offer support for “non-terrorists,” because “the majority of attacks are coming from the Muslims.” She supports both foreign aid to that country to counter Chinese influence, as well as “short-term” U.S. military intervention with “as much force as necessary to deal with it promptly.”

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber said that she didn’t know, adding that she would hesitate to send troops to establish stability in the region and that “allowing surrounding countries to assist in areas that have conflicts, without the United States, is sometimes better.”

Bernadine Bank

Possibly. Bank would be willing to consider military intervention if the host country’s government agreed. While she is wary of a pointless military adventure that doesn’t make the U.S. safer, she would defer to military experts, she said.

Michael Baumgartner

Potentially, so long as it was in collaboration with the Mexican government. Baumgartner opposed unilateral military strikes into Mexico, but in some cases he would support using special forces operations against high value targets. However, he argued this would need to be part of a larger “whole-of-government approach.”

Jonathan Bingle

Yes. Bingle would support military intervention to disrupt cartel supply lines, though he added that actions in a foreign country like Mexico would require that government’s support. “We don’t want to occupy a neighbor like Mexico.”

Carmela Conroy

Conroy was skeptical of using military intervention to disrupt cartels or using military forces for “policing functions” such as combating drug trafficking. She instead supports intelligence gathering and limited uses of force.

Ann Marie Danimus

Probably not. Danimus argued that supporting domestic law enforcement agencies like the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as major investments in addiction treatment, would have a meaningful impact on drug trafficking. Military intervention carries a risk of “collateral damage” and further destabilization, she added.

Brian Dansel

Yes. He said the scourge of fentanyl is too great, with people that “came from a good family life, even one time they ingest fentanyl and they’re dead." While he draws the line at bombers flying over Mexico, he agrees with deploying “any resource” whether military or otherwise to secure the border.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Generally, no. Flynn said he would support the U.S. supporting other countries with training and “equipment” to handle cartels themselves, and argues that military interventions have weakened the U.S.’ diplomatic position globally. For him to support military actions, it would need to be a “last resort” and only proportionally to what the host country’s government requests.

Rene Holaday

Holaday was hesitant to support military intervention outside of the U.S. Instead, she argued in favor of deploying military forces on the U.S. side of the border, going “door to door” to get rid of cartel influences in border towns.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber argued that the focus should be on domestic law enforcement and disrupting trafficking supply chains within the country’s borders. She called for more investments in the Drug Enforcement Administration, local and regional law enforcement and preventing drug trafficking.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank said processing times for asylum claims at the border need to be shortened and the border needs to be better staffed with agents, judges and other legal support. She said the border needs to be better surveilled with technology and additional personnel, but a wall across the entire border is illogical and inefficient.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes. Baumgartner argued that a wall should be completed along the southern border, that the E-Verify system checking the legal status of employees should be implemented more broadly across the country and that “remain in Mexico” policies should be reinstated. He added that he would consider withholding some federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that don’t cooperate fully with Border Patrol.

Jonathan Bingle

Yes. He said only a small number of those coming in illegally come with “bad intent,” but that threat must be addressed and he would work to crack down on all illegal immigration. A border wall is needed to funnel people to checkpoints, more agents are needed to catch them and more judges are needed to process their cases.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy said “immigration overall is in serious need of reform,” and said the federal government had a duty to enforce immigration laws, but added that “with respect to people who sneak into the country” she did not think it isn’t feasible to track them down nor was it necessary to “sweep up people who stay out of trouble.”

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes, but Danimus said it is not “the crisis that the Republicans are making out of it.” She argued that people who overstay their visas need to be better tracked and that those who enter the country without inspection at an official checkpoint should not have avenues to residency or asylum.

Brian Dansel

Yes. Dansel said the border wall should be immediately finished, other portions of border security should be enhanced and that asylum claims are being widely abused by people taking advantage of the United States, so the allowable reasons for claiming asylum should be narrowed.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Yes, and Flynn said the problem will grow as the climate crisis worsens. He added that the border security bill introduced in February, which has stalled, was the “best proposal in decades” to lessen illegal immigration.

Rene Holaday

Yes. Holaday believes that the U.S. and many nations are suffering from “mass invasion,” and believes that upwards of 30 million people have come over the southern border in recent years, more than twice as many as mainstream estimates of the total undocumented population. She called for funding for a border wall and immediate mass deportations.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Yes. Maycumber called for expanding physical barriers along the border, investing in manpower and said that “shutting down the border and protecting that southern border from that increase in fentanyl and human trafficking” would benefit the country.

Bernadine Bank

Bank said guest worker visas should be improved, allowing migrant workers to more easily return to the U.S., in part to disincentivize people from overstaying their visas and staying in the country illegally.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said reform is needed for some visa programs, including for guest workers, skilled workers, and “well-educated, highly capable and talented folks” like Elon Musk. He said these people are needed in the U.S., so long as they are thoroughly vetted.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle said he would work to expand legal immigration and decrease wait times for processing. He also argued against a move toward merit-based immigration, paraphrasing the Emma Lazarus poem mounted on the Statue of Liberty: “No, give us your tired, give us your hungry, give us your poor – those are the people who will appreciate this country and will fight for it.”

Carmela Conroy

Conroy said the U.S. should emphasize family reunification and merit-based immigration, saying she thinks the diversity visa program, where people are able to enter a lottery for one of a limited number of visas, was fraught with fraud and should be ended.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus said there should be more guest worker visas to address labor shortages, and the federal government should do more to “push labor to the areas where they need it.”

Brian Dansel

Dansel believes it is too easy to immigrate to the United States and criticized economic migration, arguing that migrants should be able to prove they have the funds available to support themselves.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn said that the bureaucracy preventing “prime candidates” from easily entering the U.S. needed to be streamlined, and that worker visas should allow for more flexibility for people to transfer between jobs and provide an easier path to citizenship.

Rene Holaday

Holaday said that all legal immigration should be stopped pending the mass deportation of anyone who entered the country illegally since at least 2021.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber said she wants to reform the migrant farm worker visa system to make it easier for farmers to hire foreign laborers and argued that students educated in America should have an easier path to citizenship.

Bernadine Bank

Bank said that the nation needs to more quickly process the claims of people seeking refuge in the U.S. She added that many are fleeing unsafe conditions, arguing that in some cases this was caused by past U.S. interventions, and called for U.S. financial aid and in some cases military and policing training for those countries.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner believes that refugee resettlement is a proud American tradition, but argued that there needs to be more vetting of refugees and raised concerns about increased numbers of Chinese and Syrian refugees.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle attended a recent presentation from World Relief and said he loved the stories of two refugees living in Spokane but otherwise didn’t have a comment on the issue.

Carmela Conroy

Conroy mostly praised the current refugee resettlement system but argued that the initial transition period for new refugees should come with better financial support.

Ann Marie Danimus

Danimus argued the system mostly works well, and Democrats should do more to convince the public about the benefits refugees bring to the country.

Brian Dansel

Dansel said refugees should be placed in countries closer to their countries of origin and said bringing “people from halfway across the world … is unfair to everyone” and a costly “burden on taxpayers.”

Rick Valentine Flynn

Flynn said refugees should be resettled more evenly throughout the country, adding “we need to find where we can put refugees where they’re not going to be too much of a burden … and where we can make these refugees a boon to our society.”

Rene Holaday

Holaday said the U.S. is allowing “people who would be considered enemies of this nation and terrorists to come here” through refugee resettlement programs and broadly argued against allowing refugee resettlement from Gaza or China, for example, though “that has to be weighed individually… .”

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber said more refugees should stay in the first safe country they arrived in and the current system is being abused. Those who do seek refuge in the U.S. should be better vetted, she added.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank said the spending package that “not everybody is happy with 100%” was a reasonable compromise that would have invested in increased personnel on the border and reduced processing times.

Michael Baumgartner

No. Baumgartner said the bill was overly focused on processing asylum claims and would fail to secure the border. Though the proposal was endorsed by the Border Patrol union, he said that border agents he spoke with were not supportive. He disagreed with a provision that would only close the border after a certain number of border encounters.

Jonathan Bingle

No. Bingle said it would have encouraged asylum cases at the southern border. He added that “you wouldn’t have been able to activate this authority until there were 4,000 illegals daily for seven consecutive days,” and believed the president and secretary of the Department of Homeland Security had too much discretion to suspend this authority.

Carmela Conroy

Yes. Conroy said the bill didn’t have everything she would have wanted, but it would have been “better than nothing” and helped relieve the “security and humanitarian crisis at the border.”

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus said Republicans have undercut border security funding and don’t “put their money where their mouth is.”

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel said the bill was filled with “half measures” and was an attempt by the Biden administration to score political points ahead of an election.

Rick Valentine Flynn

Yes. Flynn called it a strong bill, emphasizing investments to hire more border agents and reduced processing times for immigrants trying to enter the U.S. legally.

Rene Holaday

No. Holaday said the bill allowed illegal border crossings of up to “5,000 a day” and that it was meant to “fool people” while it “legitimized the border invasion.”

Jacquelin Maycumber

Yes. Maycumber said that a nation’s sovereignty depends on secure borders, and that doing so would allow America to refocus more of its attention to “preventing crime and victims within our own borders.”

Bernadine Bank

Supports federal codification.

Michael Baumgartner

Believes issue should be left to the states and would not support a ban.

Jonathan Bingle

Supports federal ban.

Carmela Conroy

Supports federal codification.

Ann Marie Danimus

Supports federal codification.

Brian Dansel

Declined to answer a “hypothetical” but agreed with the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Rene Holaday

Supports a federal ban.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Supports a federal ban.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank said that Mifepristone has been widely used for decades, including for purposes other than abortion, and attempts to challenge its approval are not based on science or “sound medicine.”

Carmela Conroy

Possibly, if it came to that. Despite legal challenges to the drug’s FDA approval, Conroy said current authority granted to the Federal Drug Administration and Mifepristone’s longstanding approval are sufficient to prevent access from being restricted.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus said she would support a “blanket bill with regards to the right to access medication,” unless they are known to cause harm to the patient.

Bernadine Bank

No.

Carmela Conroy

Yes.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes.

Bernadine Bank

Viability.

Carmela Conroy

No time limit.

Ann Marie Danimus

Viability, specifically the current standard of 24 weeks.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner repeated that this decision should be made at the state level.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle said that life begins at conception and abortion should not be allowed past this point. He listed only health of the mother as an acceptable exception.

Brian Dansel

Dansel doesn’t support “late term” abortions, but declined to define the term, and wouldn’t specify when he believes abortions should no longer be allowed. He said there should be exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.

Rene Holaday

Holaday said that life begins at conception and abortion should not be allowed past this point. She added there should be exceptions “if it was before six weeks and somehow they knew the mother was guaranteed to die,” and also believes, in the case of the rape of someone 13 or younger, “that would be something to consider as well.”

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner emphasized that abortions should be allowed if the mother’s life is in danger, and that decision can be made alongside healthcare providers, but didn’t know what if any role the federal government has in getting involved.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle said he would have to look into the issue. He believes that abortion restrictions should not apply to miscarriages, which he called heartbreaking, but otherwise “would not want a speculative diagnosis” to permit an abortion.

Brian Dansel

Dansel declined “to do hypotheticals,” adding that he doesn’t “think there’s many cases at all where there’s a lady waiting in the waiting room with septic shock.”

Rene Holaday

Holaday said she doesn’t believe abortion restrictions should apply to miscarriages.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said he supports access to contraception, but what role if any the federal government had to intervene would depend on the specific restrictions being placed.

Jonathan Bingle

Yes, with the exception of “morning after” pills. Despite personal philosophical disagreements with contraception, he believes access to other forms of birth control should be protected.

Brian Dansel

No. Dansel believes the issue should be left up to individual states.

Rene Holaday

Yes, with the exception of “morning after” pills.

Bernadine Bank

Yes. Bank said individuals should be protected from prosecution for traveling to a state where abortion is legal to have the procedure done and healthcare providers should be protected from prosecution for referring someone to out-of-state abortion clinics.

Michael Baumgartner

Baumgartner said that it would be extremely difficult to enforce these laws, “and in many cases would probably do more harm to the pro-life cause than good.”

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle said he “would not go out of my way to support extra protections,” but if a national abortion ban did not pass he believes that states should not prosecute if a resident gets an abortion in a state where it is legal.

Carmela Conroy

Probably, if it came to that. Conroy said that every American has the freedom to cross the country and across state lines. “We are not the former Soviet Union – we do not impose interior checkpoints to control our citizens,” she added. However, she believes current constitutional protections should be sufficient to combat these laws.

Ann Marie Danimus

Yes. Danimus believes no government should be able to restrict travel within the United States for any reason – unless they have a court-ordered ankle bracelet, she added.

Brian Dansel

Dansel said that this “will be again a states rights issue.” He declined to elaborate.

Rene Holaday

Holaday said she would support making it illegal to travel to another state to get an abortion.

Jacquelin Maycumber

Maycumber said she supported Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law making it a crime to assist a minor to cross state lines for an abortion without their parent’s or guardian’s consent. Stopping human trafficking should be a priority of the government, she said.

Michael Baumgartner

Yes, though Baumgartner said he didn’t think access to IVF would likely be a high concern for Congress.

Jonathan Bingle

Bingle said friends of his have had children using the treatment, and he believes it can be a good tool for starting families, but also believes embryos discarded during the process are discarded lives. Would consider supporting restrictions to prevent embryos from being discarded.

Brian Dansel

Dansel said he doesn’t support federal protections to access the treatment, adding that the fewer times the federal government gets involved, the better.

Rene Holaday

Holaday said she would not support a ban on the treatment and is “not opposed to” IVF.