Washington candidates pitch their progressiveness for U.S. House opening

When it’s progressive against progressive, it’s not so much about the issues as it is how each candidate would represent a liberal district and battle Republicans in the other Washington.

Three Democratic candidates vying to replace Congressman Jim McDermott in the U.S. House debated Sunday. The challengers: State Sen. Pramila Jayapal, State Rep. Brady Walkinshaw and King County Council member Joe McDermott – no relation to Jim.

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During Jim McDermott’s last election to Congress in 2014 — his 14th consecutive win — he received 80 percent of the vote. The 7th Congressional District, which includes most of Seattle, is almost sure to elect another Democrat, meaning one of these candidates will very likely be the next House representative.

Walkinshaw touted his stance on criminal justice reform, climate change and transit. He pointed out that he announced his candidacy in December, which was a month before Rep. McDermott announced his retirement. Some pundits said Walkinshaw posed a real threat to McDermott and Walkinshaw’s supporters believe he helped inspire the 27-year congressman’s retirement.

“I started this race in mid-December because I believed our generation inherited a broken system,” Walkinshaw said. “It’s a system that’s broken nationally and a system that’s broken locally. I want to fight for a country where we get our incarceration rates back to where they were in the 50s and 60s.”

This race might come down to a fight between Walkinshaw and Jayapal, who sounds friendly and comfortable telling her story that includes how she came from India at age 16.

“My parents took all the money they had — it was about $5,000 — and they used it to send me here by myself because they really believed this was the place I was going to get the best education and have the brightest future,” Jayapal said.

Jayapal said, because of that opportunity, she has devoted the last 25 years of her life to fighting social justice issues for the most marginalized people, including the middle class, women, people of color and younger generations.

The third candidate, Joe McDermott, didn’t come off as strong and as smooth as the other two. McDermott says he’s been fighting for years on progressive issues that include supporting light rail, championing marriage equality and passing campaign finance reform in the state.

“With my 10 years in the Washington state legislature, and over five now on the King County Council, that’s the kind of work I have engaged in,” he said.

Joe McDermott also talked about overturning Citizens United and fighting for gun control and getting rid of student debt.

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