In Another Flip: WA-08 CD is called for Dr. Kim Schrier (D) over Dino Rossi (R).
In another important bit of really really good news, the Washington State 8th Congressional District was recently called for the Democrat, Dr. Kim Schrier. Schrier beat longtime Washington state Republican Dino Rossi. Dr. Schrier is a pediatrician and she will be Congress’s only pediatrician and, I think, only female doctor. She made health care the centerpiece of her campaign and that seemed to resonate with voters in the 8th. She has promised to protect the ACA, fight for women’s reproductive rights, and work to lower the cost of prescription drugs. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Dr. S. in person and talk over the issues with her. She is smart, personable, has a ton of charisma, and will be an amazing representative for the people of the 8th CD. I can’t say how she connects to a larger crowd but in-the-room she easily impresses. I’ve heard people say the same thing about Hilary Clinton. This is a positive comparison, IMHO.
This was Rossi’s third defeat in a row to WA state female Democratic candidates. Rossi lost a very close race to Christine Gregoire for governor and then he lost to Patty Murray for the senate, and now to Dr. Schrier. I hope that’s the last I hear about Dino Rossi, who, honestly, has a face I’d like to punch.
Winning this race means a flip from Red to Blue. Republican Dave Reichert retired and this was an open contest. Most political gurus believed this race would be a “toss-up” as the district was carved out from what I understand not that long ago for a moderate-ish Republican to win. The district includes the more heavily populated “Eastside” of the Seattle metropolitan area which is more densely populated and stretches south toward Tacoma and then over the Cascade Mountains all the way to Wenatchee. The part of the district in King County, nearer Seattle is the more liberal, blue-ish, and increasingly more populated than its farther eastern reaches.
The Seattle Times is reporting:
Schrier led with 53 percent after new vote tallies from King and Pierce counties Wednesday. That 6-percentage-point gap was essentially the same as on Election Day, but Schrier’s lead in raw votes grew by about 950, leaving her 12,576 votes ahead.
Because Washington State has all mail in voting…and a lot of people didn’t vote until Monday or Tuesday, I had assumed that the race would not be called for a few days. I was wrong. The fact that the race was called on Wednesday night and that Rossi conceded so quickly means that this “toss-up” district wasn’t actually much of a toss-up in the end. If Dr. Schrier turns out to be the kind of awesome representative everyone imagines her to be, then she could be in congress for a long time.
Dr. Schrier said tonight – via the Seattle Times:
“Congress is broken, and people in the 8th District are ready for a community pediatrician to bring a dose of common sense to DC,” she said in a statement. “We deserve a representative who will take on drug companies and insurers to lower healthcare costs, who will protect pre-existing conditions, who will finally give the middle class a pay raise, and who will get corporate money out of politics. That’s exactly the representative I will be in Congress.”
This race has a special place in my family’s heart. We are from the city of Seattle. Our representative is Pramila Jayapal in the WA-07 CD. She’s amazing but we knew she would easily win her election. She didn’t need us. So we kind of adopted Dr. Schrier and the WA-08. For the past month+ we travelled to the 8th going to Kent and Auburn and Covington and then over to Issaquah and Sammamish to canvass for Kim. We knocked on doors…so many doors. We called. We wrote post cards. We donated what was for us *A LOT* of money. So much money. WE got in the habit of saying, “We are all in for Kim” – that was our unofficial campaign slogan. We met a lot of amazing campaign workers and other volunteers…all of whom were unfailingly kind. It was a great experience. I’m really not sure we made much of a difference in the end…but it feels good to roll up our sleeves and do the work.
The Campaign Reported:
We drew 4,000 active volunteers, she said, who knocked on more than 400,000 doors and made 400,000 phone calls. That helped drive what is projected to be record turnout.
We’re in there somewhere…helping out. Doing what we could. And that feels cool. I didn’t want to wake up the day after the election with the sick feeling I had in 2016 and think I should have done more. I have always been politically active. I’ve worked on and off for various campaigns over the years. But for me, everything changed when we elected Trump. What’s happening right now is not normal. The differences bt Republicans and Democrats, bt the Left and Trump is not small quibbling over what the best policy is to solve a well acknowledged problem...it’s over the fundamental idea of what constitutional democracy is...about who we are fundamentally as a people...you can’t support Trump or the other politicians who support Trump wo fundamentally and immorally alter the very fabric of our democracy. So maybe being against abortion is your thing...or lower taxes...or whatever. Too bad. You’re going to have to put that aside for now until this particular menace passes, is staked through the heart, has its head chopped off, and is exposed finally to the sun!!! In case it’s not clear: I’m using a Dracula analogy here, comparing Trump to a blood-sucking vampire. Seems about right to me!
It’s not over, of course. There is a lot more work to be done. I was just texting with my sister, who lives in Portland, OR and who worked her ass off for governor Kate Brown and others. And now with the firing of Jeff Sessions and threat to the Mueller investigation…we are both like F*sdhCK now we’re gonna have to go out and hit the streets and protest! But my mantra has become: Doing nothing is not an option. We have to show up. And we’re going to do just that!
Also see this DKOS diary that was the first to report Schrier’s victory last night.