Race to replace McMorris Rodgers in Congress one of the most crowded in the state

Six Republicans and five Democrats are running to represent Eastern Washington in Congress in one of the year’s most crowded races in Washington, with only the open seat for governor attracting more candidates.

In less than a month, only two of them will be left to compete in the November election.

Most running for the seat come from political backgrounds, having served in elected office, some form of leadership roles in their respective parties, or in jobs for politicians. Some with little or no political experience have joined the race hoping to offer either a radically different perspective or arguing they offer a new appeal to the district’s voters.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election analysis outfit, rates the district “R+8,” meaning that in the 2016 and 2020 elections combined, the district performed eight percentage points more Republican than the nation as a whole. In 2022, outgoing incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers bested Democratic rival Natasha Hill by nearly 20 points.

Recent precedent in this district is complicated, however, by the seat being open for the first time in 20 years. McMorris Rodgers has held the seat since 2005, having defeated Spokane progressive Don Barbieri by 20 points; her surprise announcement in February that she would not seek re-election may provide the best chance in a generation for Democrats to flip the seat.

Still, the Cook Political Report does not rank the district as competitive, suggesting a Republican is overwhelmingly likely to retake the seat in November. Republicans have held the seat and fended off Democrats, usually easily, since 1995.

Some Democrats vying for the seat also worry about being weighed down by sagging approval for the top of the ticket, President Joe Biden.

Both OB-GYN Bernadine Bank and WSU lecturer Bobbi Bennett-Wolcott have publicly called for Biden to step down following his weak June 27 debate performance and concerns about his age. Small business consultant Ann Marie Danimus is the only Democratic candidate to still voice full support for a Biden candidacy, with former diplomat Carmela Conroy saying both parties need to “think long and hard” about whether their nominees are fit to serve as president. Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Matthew Welde declined to voice an opinion on the topic.

Outside of the chance that a Democrat can overcome those odds, the November election could become more competitive if two Republicans receive more votes than their competitors, due to Washington’s top-two primary system.

As voters begin to receive their ballots this week for the Aug. 6 primary, some candidates have clear advantages headed into the home stretch. Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner, who gained prominence in 2010 when he defeated incumbent Democratic state Sen. Chris Marr in what was then the most expensive race in state history, has a profound fundraising lead over the rest of the field.

Some other campaigns appear unable to raise the cash needed to go all the way, with Welde, Bennett-Wolcott, author Rick Valentine Flynn, radio show host Rene Holaday and Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle all raising relatively little cash since they announced their candidacies, and especially in the last three months. Flynn and Holaday have not reported raising anything to the Federal Election Commission.

Republicans

Baumgartner, who previously served as a prominent state senator during a brief moment when Republicans controlled that chamber, has a dominant fundraising haul to help him boost his profile and the backing of many notable former Republican politicians.

He heads to the August primary with a dominant fundraising position, having been given more money than most other candidates combined, and he’s received the endorsements of some prominent former elected Republicans, such as for state Sen. Dino Rossi, Spokane-area conservatives, such as former mayors Nadine Woodward and David Condon, and influential voices such as hedge fund manager Brian Heywood.

Baumgartner has taken a more moderate stance on many issues than some of his Republican competitors, including as the only one to pledge to not vote for a federal abortion ban, arguing instead that it should be left to the states. Though he has argued in some forums that a few of his Republican rivals lack integrity or are insufficiently conservative, he has otherwise positioned himself as an experienced politician who can beat Democrats, navigate systems of power and get results, such as his advocacy in the state Legislature for a medical school in Spokane.

State Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic, who serves as the Republican House Floor Leader, has largely consolidated the support of legislators in the northern end of the congressional district. A farmer and former law enforcement officer, she has also amassed the support of a large number of sheriffs, including former Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, as well as the Spokane Police Guild. She was also the only Republican running for Congress in any district in the state to receive the endorsement of the Washington State Labor Council, which co-endorsed Maycumber and Democratic candidate Carmela Conroy.

Maycumber boasts a 100% rating by the anti-abortion organization Human Life of Washington and an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and has touted legislative victories during her time in the minority, including improved federal payments to veterans, increased apprenticeship programs in Washington high schools and capping insulin costs for state residents.

She has at times faced an uphill challenge during the election, however, due in part to her support for then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who failed to pry the nomination from former President Donald Trump earlier this year.

She has also faced criticism for her fundraising, with failed Republican gubernatorial and congressional candidate Loren Culp and others attacking her as being in the pocket of donors. This sentiment came up during the Spokane County GOP’s ranking process in April, with a vetting committee questioning whether she was “possibly buying influence.” Party leadership later walked back this commentary.

Republican Ferry County Commissioner Brian Dansel is a former professional golfer who has struggled to gain the endorsements of many elected leaders, but has excelled at getting the backing of Republican Party members. He has been endorsed by the Spokane County GOP and the Washington state Republican Party.

He has served in many roles in elected and appointed office, including as an adviser to the National Economic Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Trump administration, as state executive director of the Farm Service Agency and the regional director of the Pacific Northwest region of the USDA. He also previously served as a state senator, having defeated appointed state Sen. John Smith, R-Colville, in 2013.

Dansel is far and away the candidate most likely not to state his positions on issues, such as whether he would be willing to vote for a national abortion ban, or whether he would support Ukraine ceding territory to end Russia’s invasion. He has, however, voiced strong opposition to foreign aid in most cases, support for border security and military intervention to disrupt foreign cartels, and called for loosening regulations in many sectors except for pharmaceuticals and medical insurance, where he wants tougher restrictions on companies.

Bingle entered the race capitalizing on his early clashes against COVID-19 mandates and campaigning on a theme of “American Revival” that heavily leaned on his Christian beliefs. He provided some of the strongest opposition to abortion access among the candidates, advocating for a nationwide ban starting at conception and saying that many other Republicans lacked the integrity to stand firmly on their principles on this issue.

He appeared early on to be gaining some traction with this messaging, receiving the Spokane County GOP’s second-highest ranking and proving popular on stage during an April speech to the local party. But that momentum was not enough to gain him the county party’s endorsement, and he failed to rank as a finalist for the state GOP’s endorsement.

Whether his message will resonate with voters, it certainly hasn’t with donors, a possibility he acknowledged early in his campaign. He has had by far the worst fundraising among current office holders running for the seat, raising only $20,000 since announcing his bid and less than $3,000 in the last three months. Most of those donations came from Spokane County residents, suggesting Bingle has struggled to break out from local political circles.

Flynn, a disabled veteran, has characterized himself as a “sane, electable Republican” and has been by far the most likely to align with Democrats on a number of issues including opposing a nationwide abortion ban and criticizing Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

He supports a universal basic income, an uncommon proposal that would provide money to every U.S. citizen on a regular basis usually associated with left-wing politicians such as the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang. Flynn differentiates his proposal from that of liberal politicians by arguing that it could be set up to also tamp down on the inflationary pressures driven by so-called “greedflation,” the economic theory that a significant portion of inflation in recent years is driven by large corporations raising their prices and increasing profits while claiming inflation was the culprit.

Christian talk radio show host Holaday characterizes herself as a “Christian MAGA Republican” and a fighter of communism, which she believes is pervasive in national and international politics. A one-time legislative aide to controversial former state Rep. Matt Shea, Holaday championed the Liberty State movement, which called for splitting Washington state in two along the Cascade mountains.

Holaday has taken to calling most of her opponents “Republicans in name only,” or, in the case of Bingle and Dansel, too nice for Congress. She has called climate change a hoax and compared it to stories of bigfoot, and, like Dansel, she doesn’t believe Biden was legitimately elected. She frequently circulates misinformation, including a recent post to social media falsely claiming to be from a Secret Service sniper who claimed they had been directed to not take down the man who attempted to assassinate Trump.

Democrats

None of the Democrats running for the seat have held elected office previously, though Bank, Conroy and Danimus have all held executive positions in the Spokane County Democrats.

Bank founded the Spokane VA hospital’s gynecology clinic in 2016 but left that organization in 2021 following the fallout from a flawed and controversial computer system. Though the OB-GYN has never performed an abortion, she has listed abortion access as a top priority for her campaign, along with veterans health. She has also come out as a strong supporter of Ukraine, visiting that country in mid-April in a campaign stop.

Bank serves as the chair of the 6th Legislative District Democrats and thus has a seat on the Spokane County Democrats executive board. Her campaign has been endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Bank has argued in favor of a constitutional amendment protecting abortion, though she acknowledged this would be exceptionally difficult to accomplish, and has criticized the 2014 closure of Mann-Grandstaff’s 24-hour emergency room during the tenure of McMorris Rodgers.

Conroy, a retired diplomat and former deputy prosecutor, served a stint as chair of the Spokane County Democrats in 2023 and has far and away the strongest backing of elected Democrats, including outgoing state Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, and Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, as well as county Democratic parties. She and Bank were co-endorsed for the race by the Spokane County Democratic Party, and she has also won the backing of a number of labor unions, including the National Education Association and Washington Machinists Council.

Conroy often holds more moderate positions than her Democratic rivals, stopping short of calling for withholding aid for Israel despite concerns about the nation’s actions in Gaza due to concerns about creating instability in the Middle East. She departs from this trend, however, on the topic of abortion, arguing that there should be no federal limit on when a person should be able to access the procedure.

Danimus, who ran for the same seat in 2022 and won about 10% in that year’s primary, has been in the race months longer than any other candidate. She is running on a campaign focused on reaching rural voters and removing corporate money from politics as evidenced by her Not One Penny Ever – NOPE – pledge.

Though she has clashed with the Spokane County Democratic party on several occasions and was not endorsed, and has characterized herself as a candidate who “tells it like it is” in contrast to her Democratic rivals, she served as the chair of the 4th Legislative District Democrats and thus served on the county party’s executive board. She is the founder and director of the nonprofit Stubborn Girls Creative.

Welde, a Democrat living in Liberty Lake, has had a 14-year career in criminal prosecution with a focus on domestic violence cases. He is a strong proponent for a centralized health care system and more federal investment in law enforcement. He has struggled to gain endorsements or raise funds, however, limiting his profile in the race.

Bennett-Wolcott, a registered nurse and clinical assistant professor at WSU, supports abortion access and, like Conroy, has called for no time limit on the procedure. The latest entry into the race, having jumped in during the May filing week months after other candidates, she has been unable to gain endorsements and is almost entirely self-funding her campaign.