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Five candidates vie for seat in U.S. Congress

By Kera Wanielista, Skagit Valley Herald
Published: July 11, 2018, 12:30pm

MOUNT VERNON — In her attempt for a fourth term representing Washington’s 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene faces challenges from four candidates.

The district includes parts of Skagit, Whatcom, King and Snohomish counties.

Of DelBene’s four competitors, three are political newcomers: Robert Mair, a 64-year-old Redmond retiree who claims no party preference; Adam Pilskog, a 40-year-old educator from Monroe who claims no party preference; and Scott Stafne, a 69-year-old attorney from Arlington who prefers the Republican Party.

The fourth is 49-year-old Sultan City Councilman Jeffrey Beeler, a small-business owner who prefers the Republican Party.

DelBene, a Democrat who was first elected to the seat in 2012, said in a questionnaire from the Skagit Valley Herald that jobs and the economy are the most pressing issues in the district.

“In order to strengthen the middle class and help struggling families, we must do more to create jobs and grow the economy,” she wrote. “Whether it’s helping our small businesses and local industries that can support good paying jobs for years to come, including aerospace, manufacturing, high-tech, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and health care, we must reward businesses that are creating family wage jobs and invest in the training and skills of our workers to prepare them for these jobs.”

Doing that, she said, will require educational opportunities for children and adults, a health care system that works for everyone, tax reform and “incentives that foster research, innovation and entrepreneurship.”

DelBene believes her experience as a former Microsoft executive gives her an advantage in the “other Washington,” as she has learned how to work with others and achieve results.

Mair, an avid cyclist, said he is running to keep money out of politics, and the main issue facing the district is the environment.

“I’m not taking money, I’m doing this for all of us and I’m old I want to do something meaningful,” Mair wrote in his questionnaire.

He plans to address the issue of the environment, he wrote, by “making billionaires illegal (so) they have to reinvest in the country.”

With both conservative and liberal views, Pilskog said he is running to bring a fresh voice to D.C. politics.

“I am saddened that politics has become a self-serving career that benefits the Congressmen and their special interest groups more than the constituents that they are intended to serve,” he wrote. “I’m running for office because I don’t like what is happening in our country and I want to do what I can to make a difference on the political landscape.”

The gridlock created by partisan politics, he said, is the biggest issue facing the candidate elected to the position.

He plans to address that by “challeng(ing) the status quo” through research, media and conversation with allies, while standing up for the constituents of the district.

Stafne considers himself an advocate and is running to fight against what he called “judicial corruption.”

“Our justice system is failing us and Congress has the authority to do something about it,” he wrote.

He would address the issue, he said, through promotion of oversight and legislation that would create a “fair and just” federal judicial system.

Because he is not accepting campaign donations, he said, he can better focus on addressing the needs of the people in the district.

Beeler, who has been elected to the Sultan City Council three times, also said partisan politics are an issue he is hoping to address.

The biggest issue, he wrote, is immigration reform, which he would hope could be solved through a bi-partisan effort.

“I’m tired of the blame game in Congress,” he wrote. “I’m looking to bring a common sense approach to find common ground to make the important decisions Congress needs to make.”

DelBene, he said, has become a “Democratic stamp” and is not representing the entire district, something he vowed to address.

The primary election will be held Aug. 7. The top two vote-getters will then advance to the Nov. 6 general election.

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