The 8th Congressional District stretches from the Eastside to Central Washington and includes the burgs of Issaquah, Sammamish, Maple Valley and Wenatchee.
Tech and Washington apples are mainstays of this economically and politically diverse jurisdiction. Since 2019, Kim Schrier, a pediatrician and centrist Democrat, has ably represented the region and deserves reelection.
“Over five-and-a-half years, I have learned how to represent this district,” Schrier told the editorial board. “As a doctor, you listen. As a member of Congress, you listen and you learn. And then you go deliver for every corner of the district. I have focused on being a focused, bipartisan member of Congress.”
She had 14 bills signed into law by Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden on topics ranging from water supply in the Yakima Basin to specialty crop research funding to support for children’s mental health care.
Schrier opposes the proposed grocery chain merger between Albertsons and Kroger, a move she said would be “devastating for our orchardists” by reducing competition.
On affordability — a top issue in the district, she said — Congress ought to do more to reduce housing costs through tax credits and other incentives. Earlier this year, Schrier announced that she had secured federal funding for a 12-unit residential building dedicated to low-income older veterans in Ellensburg, and for renovations of 16 affordable units in Enumclaw.
Saying she was “absolutely outraged” by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn federal abortion rights, Schrier said Republicans in Congress are trying to make it harder for women to access reproductive health care through legislation across the board.
“We’re seeing this pop up in military bills, we are seeing this pop up in education bills, in immigration bills,” she said. “We see every day an effort to enact a ban on abortion, or as close to a ban as they can get. I will work every day to make Roe the law of the land.”
The other candidates in the race include Republican Carmen Goers, a commercial banker, and Democrats Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Keith Arnold.
In the endorsement interview, Goers said: “As I go around the district, Congresswoman Schrier, the No. 1 thing people say is you listen, you hear. And I know you hear them.”
At a time of increasing partisanship and bad manners, Goers’ grace is welcome. She should continue to be involved in the community and seek public office. But in this election for Congress, Schrier is the clear choice.
Voters in the 8th Congressional District ought to enthusiastically reelect Kim Schrier for another term.