SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Ahead of the midterm elections, two candidates vying for Washington’s 5th Congressional District seat debated in downtown Spokane on affordability, trade policy and global affairs.
Congressman Michael Baumgartner and challenger Carmela Conroy both acknowledged that affordability remains the primary concern for voters in the district, but they presented starkly different approaches to addressing rising costs.
Conroy connected rising prices directly to international conflicts and trade policies. “We’ve got the war in Ukraine, we’ve got the tariffs, we’ve got the war in Iran that are all raising our prices,” Conroy said.
She criticized the president’s trade war with global allies and vowed to fight to renegotiate trade deals that she believes will help bring down prices.
“The tariff regime which has become chaotic because it is in the hands of a single man rather than in the hands of Congress. [Tariffs] made it very difficult for businesses to plan and made it harder and harder for regular working people to make ends meet,” Conroy said during the debate.
Baumgartner, the incumbent, pointed to Trump administration actions like removing taxes from tips and overtime as ways the current administration is promoting affordability. He insisted that increasing the U.S.’s supply of gas, food and housing would bring down the cost of living.
“We need to build more [oil] refineries here in the US. Again, if you want to bring down prices on things you increase supply. We’ve got a lot of energy and gas on the market, in part thanks to Republicans, America is now producing more energy and gas than anywhere else in the world, but we don’t have enough refineries,” Baumgartner said.
On the issue of international relations, both candidates found common ground in criticizing the president’s recent decision to buy diesel from Russia. Baumgartner emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine and pressuring Russia toward negotiations.
“That’s what America should be doing, is continuing supporting Ukraine on putting pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table. It is Russia that is the warmonger there,” Baumgartner said.
Voters can expect to receive their ballo in the mail by Oct. 16.
The last day to drop them off in an official ballot box is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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