This from the Joe Pakootas for Congress campaign regarding his opponent Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Cathy McMorris Rodgers amassed one of the most conservative and partisan voting records in the U.S. Congress, voting 97% of the time with the extreme right wing of the Republican party. She has held fewer forums with Eastern WA voters than out of state fundraising trips in her 12 years of office. She has also been investigated by the House Ethics Committee and found to be in violation of federal law for misappropriation of official funds by using federal dollars to pay for campaign activities. She routinely deletes Facebook comments and blocks voters from voicing their opinion. Eastern Washington can do much better.
(emphasis added)
Here’s a bit of the story of Joe Pakootas-
Joe Knows Eastern Washington: As a lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Joe and Cheryl, his wife of 40 years, have raised their four children and seven grandchildren here. Joe was raised in Inchelium on the Colville Indian Reservation and he knows about the hardships of poverty and substance abuse. As a young child Joe and his six siblings were taken away from their parents and placed in foster care on a dairy farm across the river from his home. After he and his brothers and sisters were returned home, he committed to building a different life for himself. Joe served 16 years as an elected Council member of his Tribe, five of those as Chair. As coach, mentor and elected leader, Joe is in touch with the needs of working families and has fought to care for our children, Veterans and the disabled. Joe and Cheryl’s home has always been a “safe home” to young people who need help...
and his experience-
From union laborer to CEO of a multi-million-dollar federal corporation, Joe has managed hundreds of employees, balanced budgets and restructured multiple business enterprises creating hundreds of family-wage jobs. As a 30-year Eastern Washington small business owner, corporate CEO, environmental protectionist and community leader, Joe has decades of business, environmental and leadership experience. As CEO of his Tribe, Joe is credited with ushering in a $10-million-dollar economic turnaround for the Colville Confederated Tribes. By refocusing on sustainable business enterprises, he restructured 13 businesses, securing a multimillion-dollar revenue stream, which has improved the lives of the nearly 10,000 members of 12 tribal bands across three states. Under his leadership, the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation managed more than 1 million acres of land, which included timber, lumber mills, recreational and retain operations. Joe is currently the CEO of the Nez Perce Tribe, managing numerous businesses.
And here’s where we are today-
From the Spokesman-Review the day after the August 2nd primary-
In a speech to supporters at her campaign headquarters in Spokane on Tuesday night, McMorris Rodgers called for unity in the Republican Party to defeat a “motivated” Democratic Party.
“It’s all on the line,” McMorris Rodgers said. “It’s the presidency. It’s the U.S. Senate. It’s the Supreme Court. It’s the United States House of Representatives.”
November will mark McMorris Rodgers’ sixth time vying for Spokane’s seat in Congress. She has never earned less than 56 percent of the vote in the general election, with Peter Goldmark mounting the most successful November challenge for her seat in 2006.
Pakootas will try to improve upon his showing in the 2014 general election, when he fell to McMorris Rodgers with 39.3 percent of the vote.
Based on early returns, Pakootas earned a slightly greater share of ballots cast this year compared to the 2014 primary. McMorris Rodgers’ share of the primary dropped about 10 percentage points from 2014, when she was challenged by Pakootas, Dave Wilson and Tom Horne. This year saw newcomer Krystol McGee, a Libertarian, also on the ballot, which otherwise remained unchanged.
Wilson earned 13 percent of the vote, based on Tuesday’s totals. Horne placed fourth again with 10 percent. McGee, a latecomer to the race, earned about 2 percent.
Pakootas said Tuesday he was “feeling great” and performed better than expected.
“Our ground game is going to be a lot stronger this year,” he said.
(note — she was first elected in 2004 so counting on my fingers this is her seventh run, not her sixth)
To get an idea of just how McMorris Rodgers, the Republican conference chair and number 4 in the House leadership fared compared to the other Washington state Congressional incumbent Republicans we have these numbers.
listed as numbers of votes and percentage of the votes:
WA-03
Jamie Herrera Beutler (R) 69,900 55.45%
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WA-04
Dan Newhouse (R) 44,581 45.8%
WA-08
Dave Reichert (R) 73,393 56.83%
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Only one other candidate in the state had a smaller percentage than McMorris Rodgers and that candidate was running in the open seat left by the retirement of Jim McDermott (D) and against 8 other candidates. And her protege Jamie Herrera Buetler got 55.45%. That’s closer to McMorris Rodgers’ usual primary numbers.
As the the Spokesman-Review points out, in the 2014 primary with the same candidates (less McGee) and a similar turn-out, she received 74,416 and 51.75% of the vote to Pakootas’ 41,203 and 28.65% of the vote. She went on to win the election that year with 60.68% to 39.32%. He had no name recognition and little money. His numbers are going up, and her numbers are not.
.
As I wrote about here, McMorris Rodgers endorsed Trump. Despite the fact that her husband is a retired Navy Commander, despite the fact that her son has Down Syndrome and despite the fact that she has “concerns” about Trumps comments.
from her endorsement-
Do I have concerns about the comments he made in the past and on the campaign trail this year about women; people with disabilities; and those from different backgrounds? Absolutely - I vehemently disagree with such statements. They are wrong in a Presidential campaign; in our workplaces; in our homes; and anywhere else. I’ve called him out before, and I won’t be shy if he does it again because he owes it to our party and our country to treat everyone respectfully and to build an inclusive coalition
And she has remained silent in the face of all that has occurred since she made that endorsement on May 18th on her Facebook page before the Washington state primary. In the meantime WA-08 Rep. Dave Reichert has said he won't endorse Trump. He doesn’t like Clinton but at least he had this to say-
There are people in our party who are having a very, very tough time with some of the things that Donald Trump has been saying.. And he just continues to insult people and that’s not how I was raised and that’s not how I raised my children … I have a family I have raised on certain principles. How can you support a person who violates almost every one of those principles? And then look your kids in the eye and say, ‘In this case, just disregard everything you’ve been taught on how to be a responsible, respectful person, contributing to a society and trying to bring people together. Just disregard all of that this one time and vote for and support a person that doesn’t stand for any of those things.
McMorris Rodgers can’t even say that much. Herrera Beutler says, “she’s still waiting to see more details of Trump’s presidential platform and that she would like to see him act more presidential.” “I want him to earn my vote, I want to feel like the person who is going to be the leader of the free world, whoever it is, can do the job,” she said. So no endorsement there. And a number of other prominent Washington Republicans have some problems with Trump. Just today gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant announced he will not vote for Trump or Clinton. Saying "I have experienced a tug of war," ... "between people who are loyal to me and my integrity, who I am.”
McMorris Rodgers popularity has unquestionably tanked this year for all the reasons I quoted at the top and likely more. Her decision to endorse Trump before the May 24th presidential primary seems to have been a calculation to catch his “potential” coattails. He got 75 to 80% of the vote in this district and pretty much every other county in Washington state, but that clearly hasn’t helped her. As to whether it hurts her, we will have to wait find out.
In the meantime Joe Pakootas is working incredibly hard to change things this year. And it is a year of possibilities and opportunity.
Those of you in other safe districts in Washington that can help out with funds or volunteering- DO IT! Spokane is a beautiful place this time of year and in the fall!
It really is time for McMorris Rodgers to go.
So go here for information to download and share with friends and neighbors in WA-05
Go to Joe's Facebook page
DONATE HERE
VOLUNTEER HERE