BNC new - Gay (married) Republican, army veteran & small business owner !

[Seattle]

I kind of have to roll my eyes at this. DelBene fits her 55-45 D district perfectly as a rich ex-techie.
Smith is a Progressive, in all but name. He's a diligent legislator and has compiled a steadily more liberal record, as surprise, his district became more liberal!

The same can be said about Kilmer, who's future is pretty bright, and surprise, also fits his D+6 district.

Heck is an establishment backbencher, but is fairly inoffensive (also pretty unknown, Kilmer always outperforms him even though their districts have a similar PVI).

Larsen is really the only one deserved of a primary. He's pretty meh (both politically and personally) in very safe, D+10 district. If they challenge any of them, it should be him.

[MAINEiac4434]

Half of the members to Congress in WA are New Democrats, an ideological dinosaur faction who are well to the right of the people they represent in safe blue seats. Smith was an Iraq war supporter & is a centrist Democrat (& a New Democrat leader).

All 5 New Democrats in Washington should be wiped out. Going after Manchin & others are meaningless & a waste of time. It is actually useful to have some blue dogs in red seats but why have centrists in very progressive seats? Can you imagine the state which gave Bernie 70% of the primary vote has 50% of it's leaders as centrist New Democrats?


Anthony Clark, Illinois candidate has 3 MA's, is a military veteran, a teacher & is halfway through a Ph.d -

You can't seriously believe Pramila Jayapal is a "New Democrat."

Washington Delegation -

New Democrats -

Suzan Delbene (WA-01), Vice Chair New Democrats
Dennis Heck (WA-10)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Vice Chair New Democrats
Rick Larsen (WA-2)
Adam Smith (WA-9), Charter member New Democrats

Progressives -

Pramila Jayapal (WA-09) (Vice-Chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus)

Republicans -

Jaime Herrera Beutler - WA-03
Dan Newhouse - WA-04
Cathy McMorris Rodgers - WA-05
Dave Reichert - WA-08

Only Beutler will probably lose in 2018, rest 3 are in safe seats. One of the most progressive states where Sanders destroyed Clinton, should not have almost their entire Democratic congressional leadership as New Democrats. Go & have those in Alabama or Texas !

Only 1 progressive member out of 10 seats in Washington is absolutely not acceptable !

I'd hate to remind you that Hillary won the Washington primary (which doesn't count, but had more participants than the caucus).

[Shadows]

Half of the members to Congress in WA are New Democrats, an ideological dinosaur faction who are well to the right of the people they represent in safe blue seats. Smith was an Iraq war supporter & is a centrist Democrat (& a New Democrat leader).

All 5 New Democrats in Washington should be wiped out. Going after Manchin & others are meaningless & a waste of time. It is actually useful to have some blue dogs in red seats but why have centrists in very progressive seats? Can you imagine the state which gave Bernie 70% of the primary vote has 50% of it's leaders as centrist New Democrats?


Anthony Clark, Illinois candidate has 3 MA's, is a military veteran, a teacher & is halfway through a Ph.d -

You can't seriously believe Pramila Jayapal is a "New Democrat."

Washington Delegation -

New Democrats -

Suzan Delbene (WA-01), Vice Chair New Democrats
Dennis Heck (WA-10)
Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Vice Chair New Democrats
Rick Larsen (WA-2)
Adam Smith (WA-9), Charter member New Democrats

Progressives -

Pramila Jayapal (WA-09) (Vice-Chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus)

Republicans -

Jaime Herrera Beutler - WA-03
Dan Newhouse - WA-04
Cathy McMorris Rodgers - WA-05
Dave Reichert - WA-08

Only Beutler will probably lose in 2018, rest 3 are in safe seats. One of the most progressive states where Sanders destroyed Clinton, should not have almost their entire Democratic congressional leadership as New Democrats. Go & have those in Alabama or Texas !

Only 1 progressive member out of 10 seats in Washington is absolutely not acceptable !

I'd hate to remind you that Hillary won the Washington primary (which doesn't count, but had more participants than the caucus).

Washington had a caucus for delegate allocation which Bernie won with more than 70%. And all the neighbouring states went to Bernie comfortably with Seattle having one of the highest per capita donation.

WA is a liberal blue state. Are we going to discuss Straw polls & meaningless entertainment primaries, might as well start discussing who won the NBC Washington Poll !

[Shadows]

Anyways new candidate (gay ex-military veteran, small-business owner Republican) -

Name - Danny Ellyson
District - Georgia - 08
Party primary - Republican
Race - White
Gender - Male

2016 Result -

Republican    Austin Scott           67.6%   173,983
Democratic   James Neal Harris   32.4%   83,225

About the candidate -

I am an Army veteran, a small business owner, and an Independent Republican. I was born in Warner Robins, Georgia and was blessed to be adopted at birth by a military family. I’ve been a military police officer and an active duty National Guard recruiter in Georgia (where I was promoted to Station Commander), as well as a career counselor for Soldiers. Two years ago I was diagnosed with medical conditions that lead to my medical retirement from the Georgia Army National Guard. I retired as a Sergeant First Class under honorable conditions

I moved into the private sector as a retail manager. It was exhausting, debilitating and demeaning work - and an eye-opener for me. It was the most miserable experience I have encountered while trying to raise my family. I founded a small family landscaping business back in my hometown of Warner Robins. I love running a small business that not only helps provide for my family, it also creates employment for our community in Houston County. I share the joy of my two children with my husband Nate, a nine-year old son and five year-old daughter. My husband Nate has dropped out of college in order to run the company and provide for our family while I make this bid for Congress.

https://brandnewcongress.org/Candidates/danny-ellyson

[This account no longer in use.]

This strategy of running progressive Republicans is interesting to me. It's not likely to lead anywhere, but I look forward to seeing the results.

[Holmes]

Yay a sh**tty gay Republican. The worst kind.

[Figueira]

I mean, Washington is a progressive state, regardless of whether the primary or the caucus should count. And regardless, voters in every Safe D district should be given the option of a good progressive. Whether they'll actually take it is neither here nor there.

Not sure how you can call Reichert "safe."

[Virginiá]

Washington had a caucus for delegate allocation which Bernie won with more than 70%. And all the neighbouring states went to Bernie comfortably with Seattle having one of the highest per capita donation.

What are you even talking about? Real ballots went out, and real people voted in that primary. Yes, Bernie overwhelmingly won the caucus, but that is because he had the most enthusiastic base of the two. That is who wins caucuses - the candidate with very fired up & enthusiastic support, and it's also the reason they are a terrible way to choose candidates. It allows a candidate with well below majority (or even plurality) support to win a caucus simply because they had enough people willing to sit through a caucus. Say what you want about WA, but it appears Bernie's actual support there vs Clinton was far less than the landslide he got in the caucus, assuming you maximized the number of participants.

You're right, the primary itself was meaningless as it was the caucus that officially counted, but you can't just ignore the results of the primary, which had almost 600,000 more participants. Quite frankly, it would be a real shame if we continued using caucuses to choose our candidates in the future.

[KingSweden]

Also, Shadows, I can tell you're not from WA since you have no clue what makes the WA Dem party tick.

Seattle is a very left-wing city. Possibly the most progressive in America. It has duly elected a Congresswoman who represents that (and who is actually pretty solid on a lot of issues, unlike some of her Council allies who stray off the reservation by veering into national politics).

The rest of the state is either Idaho Lite or the suburbs, which are socially liberal/fiscally moderate. DelBene (my own Congresswoman) is the apotheosis of this. And she's a great representative of me and my neighbors with similar views, and I will proudly vote to return her to Congress if she runs again in '18.

Just saying "the state is progressive!" means nothing. I can tell you don't live here. Seattle (the user) gave a great rundown on our Reps and why they fit their communities well, with the exception of Rick Whatshisname Larsen. Don't tell us what kind of Congresspeople are "acceptable" because you saw the results of an unrepresentative caucus held *over Easter weekend* online

[KingSweden]

This strategy of running progressive Republicans is interesting to me. It's not likely to lead anywhere, but I look forward to seeing the results.

Yeah it could lead to a freak upset somewhere. Unlikely but possible

[KingSweden]

Also, Shadows, I can tell you're not from WA since you have no clue what makes the WA Dem party tick.

Seattle is a very left-wing city. Possibly the most progressive in America. It has duly elected a Congresswoman who represents that (and who is actually pretty solid on a lot of issues, unlike some of her Council allies who stray off the reservation by veering into national politics).

The rest of the state is either Idaho Lite or the suburbs, which are socially liberal/fiscally moderate. DelBene (my own Congresswoman) is the apotheosis of this. And she's a great representative of me and my neighbors with similar views, and I will proudly vote to return her to Congress if she runs again in '18.

Just saying "the state is progressive!" means nothing. I can tell you don't live here. Seattle (the user) gave a great rundown on our Reps and why they fit their communities well, with the exception of Rick Whatshisname Larsen. Don't tell us what kind of Congresspeople are "acceptable" because you saw the results of an unrepresentative caucus held *over Easter weekend* online

It's useless trying to debate him. He's one of those people that thinks true progressives can win almost anywhere if they're unapologetic about it and that the WWC is progressive in disguise.

Heh yeah the Seattle area is the polar opposite of WWC

[Figueira]

Also, Shadows, I can tell you're not from WA since you have no clue what makes the WA Dem party tick.

Seattle is a very left-wing city. Possibly the most progressive in America. It has duly elected a Congresswoman who represents that (and who is actually pretty solid on a lot of issues, unlike some of her Council allies who stray off the reservation by veering into national politics).

The rest of the state is either Idaho Lite or the suburbs, which are socially liberal/fiscally moderate. DelBene (my own Congresswoman) is the apotheosis of this. And she's a great representative of me and my neighbors with similar views, and I will proudly vote to return her to Congress if she runs again in '18.

Just saying "the state is progressive!" means nothing. I can tell you don't live here. Seattle (the user) gave a great rundown on our Reps and why they fit their communities well, with the exception of Rick Whatshisname Larsen. Don't tell us what kind of Congresspeople are "acceptable" because you saw the results of an unrepresentative caucus held *over Easter weekend* online

But merely running candidates to give voters there an option isn't forcing people down their throats. If the residents of WA-01 would rather be represented by Suzan DelBene, they will vote for her.

[YE]

Also, there is a zero percent chance Queens party boss Joe Crowley loses a primary, to anyone. Isn't he fairly progressive anyways?

Not doing a #NecroBrag to disparage you as you are a quality poster and I, too, was under the impression that this was going to be an utter domination by Crowley, but I rarely get these so I'm taking it.

Holy sh**t.