Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website.
NORTHEAST: Political Note #363 Tom Malinowski NJ 07
SOUTHEAST: Political Note #385 Carolyn Bordeaux, Political Note #388 Elaine Luria VA 02
MIDWEST: Political Note #376 Lauren Underwood IL 14, Political Note #378 Elissa Slotkin MI 08, Political Note #357 Haley Stevens MI 11, Political Note #355 Angie Craig MN 02
SOUTHWEST: Political Note #389 Tom O’Halleran AZ 01, Political Note #375 Steven Horsford NV 04, Political Note #356 Susie Lee NV 03, Political Note #377 Lizzie Fletcher TX 07, Political Note #362 Vicente Gonzalez TX 15
WEST: Political Note #383 Harley Rouda CA 48, Political Note #384 Peter DeFazio OR 04.
June 10, 2021 Political Note #390 Kim Schrier WA 08
2022 General Election
Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com took a gap year after graduating from the University of California Berkeley. She worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. Was she weighing her next step? Rocket scientist? (She had majored in astrophysics). Pediatrician? (She had been interested in medicine since she was diagnosed with diabetes as a child.)
Politician was not one of her choices. Kim Schrier continued on to medical school at the University of California Davis. She did her residency at Stanford. In 2001, she joined the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Issaquah, Washington.
Kim Schrier had to make a choice again. Continue practicing medicine? (In 2013, she was named Best Pediatrician in Greater Seattle by Parents Magazine.) Consider politics? (She was unhappy with her Congressman Dave Reichert’s part in attempting to put an end to the Affordable Care Act. Donald Trump’s election in 2016 was disturbing. More disturbing for this granddaughter of German Jews who had left Germany for the United States before World War II was the presence of American Nazis in the Charlottesville VA Unite the Right Rally.). Kim Schrier chose politics, a run for Congress.
In 2018, thirty-nine Republican Members of Congress decided not to run again. Were they ducking an oncoming blue wave? One of the thirty-nine was Dave Reichert of Washington’s Eighth Congressional District. His retirement made Kim Schrier’s candidacy for Congress a little easier. Not easy, though. She won by slightly more than 15,000 votes.
Kim Schrier’s victory in 2018 was a struggle. David Reichert was replaced by Dino Rossi who had come within 129 votes of being elected governor of Washington. Kim Schrier was shocked by a campaign that included an anti-Semitic attack. She was one of several Democrats featured in a post-election analysis by the Washington Post which included drawings or photo-shopped pictures of Jewish Democratic candidates grinning over money they were holding.
Kim Schrier had grown up in what seemed like, except for the diabetes, an idyllic world. Her dad was a scientist; her mother a teacher. She earned a Phi Beta Kappa key while majoring in astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley.
As an adult, Kim Schrier was focused on her work and her family. The Republicans made her an activist. When she met with David Reichert to explain what was wrong and dangerous about the Republican health care proposals, she prepared as only a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in astrophysics could prepare. She had no effect on his thinking – unless his decision not to run again was the effect.
As Kim Schrier ran for Congress in 2018, she knew what she wanted:
- Make Medicare into a public option that individuals or small businesses could choose.
- Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. (She was particularly conscious of the astronomical increases in the price of insulin.)
- Provide more resources for medical research.
Washington has a California-type non-partisan primary followed by a run-off of the two with the highest vote. Three Republicans, five Democrats, a Libertarian, two Independents, and one guy with no party preference at all got into the race. Dino Rossi, the Republican who had almost been elected governor, got 43.1% of the vote. Kim Schrier edged lawyer and east of the Cascades resident Jason Rittereiser 18.7% to 18.1%. Dino Rossi was the favorite for the run off. Kim Schrier’s 52.4% to 47.8% margin came in what had become one of the most expensive Congressional campaigns in the country that year. Her subsequent victory in 2020 as the incumbent was even closer. She won 51.7% to 48.2%.
In Congress, Kim Schrier has been a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition. She was appointed to the Committee on Agriculture – great for the eastern side of her district. Her biotechnology and nutrition subcommittees reflected her expertise. Appointed to the Education and Labor Committee, subcommittees on Pk-12 education and human services, she was working in her areas of strength.
Health care continues to be her centerpiece. More than almost any other politician, Kim Schrier is vehement in her disdain for those opposed to vaccination. She speaks as strongly as anyone in office about the importance of comprehensive medical care for women. She gladly voted to change the law that precludes the CDC from doing research on the health implications of guns.
For 2022, she will probably face another former state-wide candidate. Republican Matt Larkin ran unsuccessfully for Attorney General in 2020. Like Republicans around the country, he is focusing on the problem of crime. He particularly notes proposals, not Kim Schrier’s proposals, to defund the Seattle police. Larkin brings family money to the campaign. The 2020 candidate Jesse Jensen, a combat veteran, is also considering a run.
No matter who she faces, we need Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com/ in Congress. If anything, we need more like her. Help her get re-elected. Give her some money. Find a way to volunteer. She needs your help. We need you to help keep a Democratic House.
These are vulnerable Democratic Members of Congress. If you want to play some defense, choose a few of them to support. If you want to learn about them, look at my Notes about them in the website.
Candidates to flip Republican Seats
California 48 Harley Rouda https://harleyforcongress.com
Georgia 07 Carolyn Bordeaux https://www.carolyn4congress.com Received 51.39% of the vote in 2020
Iowa 03 Cynthia Axne https://cindyaxneforcongress.com Received 48.9% of the vote in 2020
Illinois 14 Lauren Underwood https://underwoodforcongress.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 08 Elissa Slotkin https://elissaforcongress.com Received 50.88% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 11 Haley Stevens https://haleystevensforcongress.com Received 50.2% of the vote in 2020
Minnesota 02 Angie Craig https://angiecraig.com Received 48.21% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 03 Susie Lee https://www.susieleeforcongress.com Received 48.75% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 04 Steve Horsford https://www.stevenhorsford.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
New Mexico 01 Tom O’Halloran https://www.tomohalleran.com Received 50.61% of the vote in 2020
New Jersey 07 Tom Malinowski https://malinowskifornj.com Received 50.61% of the vote in 2020
Oregon 04 Peter DeFazio https://www.defazioforcongress.org Received 51.26% of the vote in 2020
Texas 07 Lizzie Fletcher https://www.lizziefletcher.com Received 50.79% of the vote in 2020
Texas 15 Vicente Gonzalez http://www.vicentegonzalez.com Received 50.5% of the vote in 2020
Virginia 02 Elaine Luria https://elaineforcongress.com Received 51.6% of the vote in 2020
Washington 08 Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com Received 51.79% of the vote in 2020
Georgia 07 Carolyn Bordeaux https://www.carolyn4congress.com Received 51.39% of the vote in 2020
Iowa 03 Cynthia Axne https://cindyaxneforcongress.com Received 48.9% of the vote in 2020
Illinois 14 Lauren Underwood https://underwoodforcongress.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 08 Elissa Slotkin https://elissaforcongress.com Received 50.88% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 11 Haley Stevens https://haleystevensforcongress.com Received 50.2% of the vote in 2020
Minnesota 02 Angie Craig https://angiecraig.com Received 48.21% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 03 Susie Lee https://www.susieleeforcongress.com Received 48.75% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 04 Steve Horsford https://www.stevenhorsford.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
New Jersey 07 Tom Malinowski https://malinowskifornj.com Received 50.61% of the vote in 2020
New Mexico 01 Tom O’Halleran https://www.tomohalleran.com Received 51.61% of the vote
Oregon 04 Peter DeFazio https://www.defazioforcongress.org Received 51.26% of the vote in 2020
Texas 07 Lizzie Fletcher https://www.lizziefletcher.com Received 50.79% of the vote in 2020
Texas 15 Vicente Gonzalez http://www.vicentegonzalez.com Received 50.5% of the vote in 2020
Washington 08 Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com Received 51.79% of the vote in 2020
Organizations to support
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) https://dccc.org
The Democratic National Committee (DNC). https://democrats.org The official organization of the Democratic Party.
Fair Fight https://fairfight.com Promotes fair elections around the country
A Special Interest of Mine
New York City has its own small-town politics. Many of the readers of Lenspoliticalnotes are New Yorkers. Some may live in or know people in Part A of Assembly District 76 (roughly east of 3rd Avenue and south of 79th Street to and including Roosevelt Island).
If you live in Part A of State Assembly District 76 in New York, please support and vote for Rebecca Weintraub in the June 22 Democratic Primary. If you know people who live in Part A of Assembly District 76, please encourage them to vote for her.
Our club and the other Democratic Club in District 76 are supporting Rebecca Weintraub’s candidacy to be one of four District Leaders of the 76th Assembly District — the female leader of Part A of Assembly District 76. District Leaders are a kind of liaison between political parties and the community.
You can learn more about Rebecca Weintraub at her Website www.VoteRebecca.nyc or at Twitter @RSWinNYC or at Instagram /RSW_in_NYC or at Facebook /VoteRebeccaWeintraub. In her non-political life, she is Vice President of a public relations firm, mother of Benjamin, and wife of Evan. In her political life, she has been an active member of our club, a leader in an innovative effort collecting video responses from NYC candidates for public office used to assess who to endorse and who to vote for.
