One congressional race completely off everyone's radar is Eastern Washington's fifth congressional district. However, this is a race that may very well be in play: We have a uniquely qualified and capable candidate in Dr. Mark Mays, a veteran, psychologist, lawyer, and professor. (And, full disclosure, father.)
As a medical practitioner in Spokane for over 30 years, and a member of a panoply of different boards and professional organizations, he is uniquely qualified to talk about health care.
As a small business owner, and as professor of law, business, and medicine, and Chair of the Board of Eastern, he is able to speak quite well about jobs and the economy
As a veteran who helped the develop the Survival Rescue school here at Farichild, he understands exactly what torture means in a way that few others do, and speaks quite passionately about ending the war in responsible time frame.
I wanted to sneak the youtubes above the fold, but let me talk about our district and it's current representation.
This is Speaker Foley's district -- It was blue for a long time. Each of the past several races have gotten closer. Peter Goldmark came within 30k votes. Had he gotten Senator Patty's numbers in Spokane and Walla Walla counties in the same election, he would be in Congress. It's doable. In a top 80 media market, we need to find 30k new votes, or flip 16k voters who now realize their mistake. It's a challenge but it's doable. We have two huge state schools in district. It's doable.
Our current Representative, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, is one of the most conservative members of Congress. She rubber-stamps the party line almost without exception. We can and must do better.
Check out our website, votemarkmays.com. This post is not asking for money (although we wouldn't send back), but please watch the clips above and look at the website to learn about the ridiculous "credentials gap" in this race.
Please rec this diary so people can learn about this race: We have a very partisan newspaper (press releases are deleted unopened) and a candidate who is unapologetically blatant in her abuse of Franking (using the right "code words" so it's all legal-like, but nothing for over a year and then four glossy brochures in a month as things heat up. Seriously?).
Thank you for your time.