2nd Congressional District

Second Congressional District

Carrie Kennedy R

http://www.carriekennedy2020.com/

She describes herself as:

American patriot

Constitutionalist

Republican

US Navy Seabee wife, mother, naval officer daughter, sister, friend

Her issues were hard to read because she is not particularly lucid or coherent. 

There is a long diatribe about government overreach, with no particular conclusion or recommendation.

She appears to want positive, non-judgmental mental health services, but they must be minimal to prevent long term dependency on such services.

She praises Trump and quotes right-wing crazy Dinesh D’Souza

She’s all for “All Lives Matter.” There is an incoherent diatribe whose bottom line is “skin color should not be a factor. We all matter.”

She wants to re-open Washington state, saying people have dealt with the virus and shouldn’t be told what to do. Besides, its over now.

I got a bit of a sardonic kick out of her position on education. She writes that something is “imparitive” about the “ciriculium”. 

And then we get to the reason she’s running. Washington passed a rather mild “sex-ed” bill and it has her and other right-wingers completely hysterical. She supports R-90, which will likely be on the November ballot, to rescind that education. I have read the bill (you will find a major discussion at the start of the blog), and it mandates 1 hour/school year in grades K-5 and 2 hours in grades 6 -12. It specifies that young children will be taught what is inappropriate touching and how to tell adults they trust that its happening. The right wingers claim that it will mandate teaching children in 4^th grade how to have sex. Nope.

- military & veterans. we owe them the best possible care, benefits, etc. A grateful nation’s duty is to support our military, veterans, and all their family members. 

Her blog features an image of a mask with the state seal and the logo: my body, my choice! The caption reads: as useless as Gov Inslee. Impeach Inslee Now.

She has not filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

Bottom line: she’s wasting space on a crowded ballot.

Cody Hart R

https://codyhart.org/

NAS Whidbey vet, civil engineer

affordable housing, homeless epidemic

environmental mismanagement

inadequate transportation system

excessive taxes

Infrastructure – he says he is an infrastructure expert, and claims that the Sharpe’s Corner roundabout was deliberately built wrongly. 

Government Accountability – as a whistleblower he claims to have identified hundreds of millions of $ of waste, fraud, and abuse in WA state.

Religious Freedom – must be protected. Cites Bill Barr’s claim that Inslee is overreaching by limiting church attendance during the virus.

Veterans – will not tolerate discrimination against them. Goes into a diatribe about government misdeeds re bidding on permit processing – if I get it straight. He seems to be a major conspiracy theorist.

Education Reform – misguided social programs that don’t belong in schools, dishonest sales tactics by colleges.

Sustainability – lifetime environmental steward. Claims the many legacy undersized culverts are Inslee’s fault for failure to correct the situation immediately. Thinks net pens are great and Inslee is at fault for not permitting them.

Bipartisanship – need to stop petty bickering in DC. He’s bent because the House stimulus package included such terrible things as wind and solar tax credits, support for USPS, same day voter registration, student debt reduction, mandated reduction in airline CO2 emissions, and corporate board diversity. 

He rails against Inslee and WA for shutting down the state and failing to open up quickly. Who gave them the right to infringe on civil rights?

Housing – wants a moratorium on all building industry regulatory code changes, Dept of Ecology stormwater requirements, and local codes.

Taxes – immediately suspend state and federal employee pay raises.

Gun Rights – opposes gun safety legislation, especially the current HR 5717 which would

create a nationwide gun registry

ban almost all semi-automatics

institute a federal magazine ban

implement national “red flag” gun confiscation (I gather ‘red flag’ means felons, people convicted of partner abuse, and the certifiably crazy)

tax guns at 30% and ammo at 50%

ban patriots under 21 from exercising their 2^nd amendment rights (setting a minimum age of 21 to buy a gun)

ration guns by making it illegal to purchase more than one firearm in a 30 day period

force ‘safe storage’ requirements on gun owners

ban home builds (building your own unregistered gun)

ban suppressors (silencers)

force FFLs (Federal Firearms License) to spend massive amounts of money to comply with new “security” requirements

expand “gun free zones”

requires a permit to purchase guns and ammo

Immigration – supports strong control of national borders.

Sanctity of Life – absolute supporter of the right of unborn children to live.

He has not filed with the Federal Elections Commission, so we don’t know what, if anything, he has spent on the campaign. Yet another waste of space on a crowded ballot. An also-ran.

James Golder R

https://www.politics1.com/wa.htm

ex-Idaho state rep, stockbroker

lives in Oak Harbor

https://www.facebook.com/james.golder.923

He’s a Facebook friend of Damien Greene, who is running for county commissioner, district 1

He seems to play an awful lot of on-line fantasy war games.

He has not filed with Federal Election Commission, so no financial information.

I couldn’t find anything else, another “also ran”

Kari Ilonummi R

https://www.politics1.com/wa.htm

blogger, LaRouche activist, frequent candidate

https://nospinnewssource.com/category/elect-kari-ilonummi-for-u-s-congress/

This links to a series of letters from 2016 having to do with 911 victims. 

https://www.facebook.com/kari.ilonummi

student at WSU

claims Obama committed treason by trying to steal the 2016 elections

refers to his years of bible study

“Obama must be questioned about Obamagate . . .”

he predicts a new deadlier coronavirus this summer, a weapon of the globalist elites to prevent Trump’s re-election.

he quotes Faux news a lot

he touts having been endorsed by Human Life PAC

he claims Hollywood is fictionalizing slavery & Jim Crow to inflame Black Lives Matter

This is the last of his diatribes I intend to read. The claim is that the Koch brothers are funding George Soros to defeat Trump in the 2020 election. Got that?

https://eledataweb.votewa.gov/OVG/OnlineVotersGuide/GetCandidateStatement?electionId=70&candidateId=54549&raceJurisdictionName=Congressional&Display=Statewide

Kari Olavi Ilonummi

Elected Experience: Kari grew up wanting to be in the military just like his father who proudly served for 20 years in the Air Force within the nuclear and special forces departments, but due to being diagnosed with Charcho Marie Tooth Disease and becoming physically disabled in his teens, he was forced to find another way to serve his nation through academia, activism, statecraft, organizing, giving speeches, investigative journalism and has been committed to these activities, amongst others, his entire adult life, nonstop, since September 11, 2001 at merely eighteen years of age.

Other Professional Experience: Internationally accredited Investigative Journalist credentials  

Education: Washington State University

Community Service: No information submitted

Statement: I'm running for United States Congress to restore unity, comradery and bring the citizens of Washington State back together once again. From here I want to retool, put our citizens back to work earning family livable wages, revamp infrastructure to a 21st Century standard, reinstate the Glass Steagall Act, help to make tuition more affordable for students, increasing funding for Veterans, Medicaid, Farm Bill, Social Security and schools, while protecting the environment every step along the way. Which all can be done with the proper and effective leadership as your next Congress member.

Washington state families, citizens and businesses are financially struggling as the standards of living have been continually deteriorating year after year for well over a decade now. Not to mention the prices of food doubling along with housing prices increasing too. Simply put; 'making ends meet' clearly isn't getting any easier for the citizens of Washington State, under, the past fourteen years of this current Congress woman being elected. Just look in the fridge or check your savings account for the proof? The numbers don't lie. So, perhaps it's time for a change of pace Washington state?

I believe in transparency, honesty, hard work, holding my own political party accountable not just everyone else’s, setting aside my own personal bias, working with all sides of the 'isle,' in order to effectively serve the interest of, and to protect, the human, along with constitutional rights, of all of Washington state citizens, majority and minority. We are all equal and one. I have not nor will I ever cower down to any corporate or special interest groups. I urge you for your support and vote this year Washington state. For more information, please go to No Spin News Source.com and thank you so much once again.

Contact:

(425) 953-3506

kari@nospinnewssource.com

He has not filed with the Federal Elections Commission, so we have no financial information. Another ‘also ran.’

Tim Hazelo R

https://www.politics1.com/wa.htm

aircraft simulator operator, retired Navy vet

lives in Oak Harbor

https://www.timhazeloforcongress.com/

Complains about anti-American activism, burning and looting, destruction of our history. Democrats are allowing this mayhem.

(hard to read because he is not particularly literate)

He complains that the silent majority goes unheard. I love this one. I do not hear how we are to discern the voice of the silent majority. 

He name calls “Absent Rick” and “Nasty Nancy”

His platform:

Economy, debt, & budget

government v economy - get government out of the way of free enterprise 

support constituents hurt by COVID

end pork in bills, cut pet projects

lean government, balance budget, end deficits

bring manufacturing back to the US

This is the classic right wing mantra. He wants government to provide services but does not want it to collect taxes to be able to provide the services. Free enterprise will do it, right? I’m sure the health care industry will be happy to provide services to COVID patients without demanding payment. Right? And of course getting out of the way of free enterprise will cause manufacturing to come back to the US – just as soon as we do away with the minimum wage and environmental protections which get in the way of profit. 

Healthcare & Drug Costs

America has the best health care in the world. Reduce unnecessary regulations to make it affordable. Prevent frivolous litigation.

Open health insurance across state lines. Free the capitalist market.

Competition brings more accountability, better service, lower prices.

Private insurance brings choice.

Allow drug companies to shop at the lowest production costs on non-emergency drugs.

Reduce regulations to free up the marketplace and create lower prices.

Critical drug production should stay in US. 

This one is a classic. Get government out of the way of corporations. All those fussy regulations about making sure drugs don’t kill patients. And those claims about “best health care in the world” are looking just a tad thin right now. And lets not forget to prevent all that frivolous litigation – like holding drug companies and health care insurers accountable. 

Immigration & Reform

legal immigrants are great

the system is broken & being abused, which overwhelms resources

he wants a merit based immigration permit system. Gee, he’s in luck there. The current resident of the White House has mandated just that. Employers are freaked out because they can’t get the workers under that merit system, which truly amounts to who can offer the biggest bribes. 

He has not filed with the Federal Elections Commission, so no financial information.

Another “also ran”

Tim Uy Trump  R

https://www.politics1.com/wa.htm

Trump campaign activist

https://tim.uy/

the first image on the website is Trump hugging the flag. The whole rap is about the wonders of Trump. 

“I will . . . support every legislative action that helps Trump succeed, so we all prosper again.”

He is:

- president of a property management company

- founder of a learning software company

- principal of a cryptocurrency consultancy

- PhD, applied physics, Stanford

- in training as a volunteer firefighter

Trump Republican credo:

1. the fruits of our labor belong to us

2. we are citizens, not subjects

3. our rights come from god

4. we believe in TOTAL adherence to the Constitution as written

5. service over self-interest

- term limits, no pensions, no perks for all elected

- balance budgets, no national debt

- rule of law, no amnesty for illegal aliens

- the communist manifesto outlines 2 major goals

nationalization of industry

redistribution of wealth

- medicare = redistribution of wealth = communism

6. equal justice for pre-born Americans

Trump is actually a 3^rd party candidate/president

The Trump agenda:

- America first and foremost

- made in America, hire American, buy American

- restore American manufacturing might

- energy independence

- build the wall, secure the borders

- merit immigration

- smaller government

- less regulations

- low taxes

- strong military

- fair trade

- a prosperous thriving middle class

- protect our bill of rights

- keep our traditions, tell our history the way it happened

He has filed with the Federal Elections Commission, and reports $0.00 raised

A slightly hysterical ‘also ran.’

Rick Larsen D incumbent

https://www.ricklarsen.org/

Here’s the current report on Rick:

538.com reports that he votes in favor of Trump 20.5% of the time. His ratings by various organizations:

NARAL                             abortion rights 100%

ACLU                                civil rights         92%

                                         human rights     85%

Children’s Defense Fund     children           100%

League of Cons Voters       environment      100%

AFL-CIO                           labor                  91%

AFSCME                          education          100%

Council for a Livable World  defense           62%

We pretty much all know Rick Larsen and where he stands on issues of concern to us. I did a lot of research 2 years ago and find that most of that is still relevant. Here it is:

And then the coup of 2016 happened and suddenly Rick is a new man. He voted against the Trump budget, against many of the insane and egregious proposals coming out of the fascist right. And he now believes in dealing with climate change, including cap & trade as one means to limit CO2. One has the distinct impression that the farther right the fascists push, the farther left Rick leans.

On the environment

~ He now cites his voting record of trying to eliminate subsidies for the oil industry.

~ He wrote that exiting the Paris agreement is/was a big mistake.

~ He fought to keep transit/light rail funds in the federal budget.

~ He supports salmon habitat restoration, protecting critical habitat areas, and conserving open space.

 ~ He worked to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has been renewed but not funded.

~ He signed a joint letter to NOAA fisheries and Army Corps of Engineers asking them to deal with the Atlantic salmon fish farm disaster by not permitting any new or refurbishment of existing pens.

~ He voted to prevent logging of the Tongass Roadless Area in Alaska.

~ He supports keeping our public lands (National monuments) public.

On economic development

~ He claims to have secured impact aid for schools with children of active military.

~ He’s against the Trump tariffs, as they hurt US workers and businesses. 

On people issues

~ He supports Medicare and Obamacare, and is fighting to prevent the destruction of both.

~ He cosponsored the DREAM act.

~ He objected vehemently to the Trump policy of breaking up families and imprisoning children and participated in Keep Families Together rallies in Mt Vernon & Bellingham.

~ He co-signed a petition to his fellow congress members to fund rebuilding of Puerto Rico

~ He added an amendment to the Defense Spending Act to address Growler noise

Now here’s an interesting one: He issued a press release demanding that the Navy explain why it is insisting on putting all its Growlers in the Whidbey basket and expressing his concerns for Whidbey communities. Aw shucks and golly gee. We didn’t know you cared. There is some question about how this translates to his support for NAS Whidbey.

Here's the 2020 update:

He believes COVID is real, and offers Dept of Health info. He has supported the various relief bills in congress. He asks that people give blood to help out.

He works to provide PPEs and emergency child care to health care workers.

He voted for impeachment.

After researching a bunch of toxic right-wingers, none of whom have actually campaigned or raised any money, it becomes obvious that the contest, such as it is, is between a challenger from the left, Jason Call, and long time Congressman Rick Larsen.

There are several trends which seem to be crossing here. There is the rightward drift of the “mainstream” Dems, who seem to believe that the only way they can hold onto what little power they still have is to emulate the repugnant Republicans. As the Rs pull farther to the right, the Ds, who should by rights be countering with equal or greater energy toward the left, are in fact simply shifting the center farther right. This then gave rise to the progressive wing, who are trying mightily to pull the Dems back to what used to be mainstream Dem thinking and is now seen as somehow far left. Jason is very much a part of that movement.

This raises the question of whether Rick Larsen is part of that rightward leaning ‘mainstream’ or not. What I am seeing of Rick over the years is that for a long time he went along with the ‘mainstream’ Dems, but that with the theft of the 2016 election he rethought his priorities. He has been moving steadily farther left. He is by no means a genuine progressive yet, but he’s getting there – to the extent that he is even questioning his former unqualified support for the military and fossil fuel infrastructure. The man appears to be educable after all. That is a good thing. But there are other issues. See the next candidate

Jason Call D

https://www.callforcongress.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsZ1PZY139E

Jason is a progressive activist determined to oust what he considers corporate apologist Rick Larsen. He has been very active in the Democratic party. He believes in people over profit, and that good government means reining in giant corporations to prevent them from writing self-serving legislation.

He lists the following issues on his website:

medicare for all

ending wars and supporting military families

protecting LGBTQIA+ rights

green new deal and a livable environment for all

quality education for all

criminal justice reform and policing

labor and an economy that works for all

a democracy that works for all

women’s rights and protections

affordable housing for all

I’ve met Jason and participated in some of those group discussions at events where everyone is standing around, juggling their paper plates and plastic cups, having a bit of trouble hearing one another. My impression is of someone young and brash and just a bit abrasive. His heart is in the right place and he has identified the perfidies of the “mainstream” Dems who appear willing to join the opposition to retain power. Most people do not know that those ‘mainstream’ Dems actually have blacklisted any political service provider who extends their services to progressive candidates. Yes, the federal ‘mainstream’ Dems are morally bankrupt. No question. Jason is right to be challenging them. 

Washington has a "top 2" primary. Given that there is no serious Republican challenger to Rick Larsen, my thinking is that voting for Jason would put him on the November ballot, with a race between Rick and Jason, and that would bring out a serious discussion of Democratic values and how to achieve them.

MAJOR UPDATE: I'm in process of wiping egg off my face. I made a serious mistake. I listened to people I thought I could trust to tell me the truth. They asked for anonymity because they claimed Jason would take revenge on them. And now I see that was not true. I have now spoken with Jason and heard from a lot of people, many of them who have worked with him. The truth is that Jason is a dedicated Bernie Progressive and there are those in the state Dem organization who cannot and will not tolerate that. My conclusion: this is a case of character assassination and I will be voting for Jason Call for Congress.