Freshman WA congressman-elect Baumgartner asked to whip votes for Speaker Johnson

Republican Michael Baumgartner won election to the U.S. House seat representing the 5th District in Washington by more than 20 points last Wednesday, holding the open seat for his party. The former Washington state senator was serving his second term as Spokane County treasurer ahead of being elected. He defeated Democrat Carmela Conroy, who served as a deputy prosecutor in Spokane County.

Baumgartner will replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who has held the congressional seat since 2005 and previously announced she would not seek reelection. The district covers the eastern section of the state, running from the Oregon line all the way north to the Canadian border.

Just a week after winning his election, Baumgartner already has traveled in Washington, D.C., to prep for his term that begins in January. He described what’s happening there now during an appearance on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Tuesday.

“There will be leadership elections for the person who is very likely to be the Speaker of the House, and then for the majority leader, the whip, the conference chair. And there’s some exciting things going on with that,” Baumgartner said.

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Saying he’s excited about the opportunity to serve in Washington, D.C., Baumgartner compared the process he’s experiencing now to what he did when he was a member of the Washington State Senate, just on a larger scale. Either way, he is focused on keeping and expanding the Republican majority in the U.S. House and Senate.

As for who he’s going to vote for in some of these key positions, Baumgartner told “The Jason Rantz Show” he hasn’t made any decisions about who he is supporting as he has people he needs to meet and talk to first.

“Well, I don’t know any of the candidates personally,” Baumgartner said. “I’ve had a number of them have reached out, so I’m kind of old fashioned in that before I vote for something, I like to hear their pitch and meet some face to face. So that will happen in short order.”

That said, he knows he is supporting current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to keep his position in the next Congress. Baumgartner also said Johnson has approached him for support with fellow members of this freshman Republican class.

“I am proud to be supporting Mike Johnson for Speaker the House,” Baumgartner said. “In fact, Speaker Johnson has asked me to help whip votes for him amongst the freshman class, and so I’m helping count a few votes and drum up support. But so far, everyone is very enthused about Mike Johnson.”

When Rantz asked Baumgartner about a report about some “hard line conservatives” trying to challenge Johnson’s leadership and Democrats trying to jump on that, Baumgartner tried to brush off any concern that may exist about Johnson’s position.

“Well, I’m not worried at all. You know, I note that (President-elect Donald Trump) has come out and supported Speaker Johnson,”  Baumgartner said. “And more importantly, you know, the job of a speaker is to maintain the majority in an election, and that’s what happened recently.”

Baumgartner of Washington: Jayapal’s political stances ‘have not impressed me’

Seattle Democratic U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who also won reelection in last week’s election, said during a news conference this week that, now that Republicans have regained control of the U.S. Senate,  she’s against eliminating the filibuster as a strategic tactic to stall bills.

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When Jason brought that up, Baumgartner said that while she got along with Jayapal personally when the two both served in the Washington State Legislature, he doesn’t appreciate where she stands politically and he doesn’t approve of her thoughts on the filibuster.

“I would say that her political stances have not impressed me, to say the least,” Baumgartner said on KTTH. “And the situation, the situational ethics when it comes to something like destroying the institution of the of the Senate is really, is really unfortunate to see, and not the best of what America has to offer. So, only a radical ideologue would take these rules for me, those rules for you. It’s really rules and institutions which make our country strong.”

Baumgartner’s signature issue in Congress

During his appearance on “The Jason Rantz Show,” Baumgartner discussed what he hopes to achieve while he is in Washington, D.C. First, he noted an issue that affects his constituents in Eastern Washington.

“I’m going to fight really hard for the people of Eastern Washington, and that means protecting our Snake River dams … but most of all, protecting our rural way of life that represents the best of American values,” Baumgartner said.

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Looking at a key issue nationally, Baumgartner focused on taking on illegal immigration and stopping people from illegally coming across the southern border from Mexico and settling in the U.S.

“I think above all, the absolute No. 1 priority for Congress, what the American people have truly spoken on is we need to get the border fixed, Baumgartner said. “We cannot be a sovereign nation if whoever wants to and pay ($10,000) or $50,000 to the drug cartel and then come over to the southern border. I mean, that’s insane. It has to stop.”

Head here or tap on the player below to hear more on immigration, tariffs and fair trade from Washington U.S. Representative-elect Michael Baumgartner on “The Jason Rantz Show.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.

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