Washington Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that decisions about a woman's health care, including reproductive decisions, are the sole choice of the individual woman without government interference. Women should make their own decisions about their care. In making these decisions, a woman might choose to seek the advice of her health care provider, her spiritual adviser or clergy member, her intimate partner or others of her choosing, but it is not for the government to direct or mandate her decisions nor direct who advises her in them.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- No

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- While I do not support an income tax rate increase, I do support simplifying the tax code and evaluating the cost and benefit of deductions that primarily benefit the wealthy. Reducing defense spending in any way that jeopardizes our national defense or hurts the servicemembers who sacrifice for our freedoms is unacceptable. However, I do support thorough audits to detect wasteful or abusive spending as well as a thorough evaluation of the necessity of military expenditures to avoid waste.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- Corporations and Unions both represent special interests that are attempting to buy influence with elected officials. When elected officials are beholden to special interests and big donors, the best interest of the voters and the national interest are no longer their priority and the country suffers.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support federal spending, primarily on improving or maintaining infrastructure, as a means of promoting economic growth. It is important to strike the appropriate balance on corporations to encourage job growth and investment in the community without rising to the level of corporate subsidies or bail-outs.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- We need to achieve high educational standards across the nation and there need to be standards that make students competitive on a national and international level. However, the current methods of high-stakes testing and common core curriculum are missing the mark. Our schools performed better when decisions were more localized and gave teachers more flexibility to use methods and lessons that best allow each student to reach their full potential rather than a federally mandated standard.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- No

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I strongly support renewable energy and protecting the environment. Renewable energy should be developed on a free market basis rather than through government funding. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions - as well as other environmental initiatives - should be achieved from an educational, social responsibility, and market based approach.

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I support addressing the overall issue of violence in our society - whether that violence involves a gun or not. I do support measures that would reduce access to guns and ability to quickly identify those who have lost their rights to possess a firearm through due process. Those measures should not increase the burdens or bureaucratic red tape on law-abiding gun owners or in any way result in tacit gun registration.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I do not support the Affordable Care Act in its current form. However, repealing and replacing is not a viable option at this point. We must instead address the specific issues that are problematic and find collaborative solutions that improve the transparency of costs and benefits to the patient, reduce bureaucratic red tape, and keep premiums and co-pays affordable.

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support increased border patrols and some limited barriers that help reduce human smuggling and trafficking operations. However, this does nothing to impact the problem of immigrants who are here on expired visas. Those who are present must be addressed on an individual basis to ascertain their reasons for being here and the consequences and viability of returning to their country of origin.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support decriminalization of marijuana for recreational purposes with regulation similar to alcohol to control potency, purity, and access by adults only as well as to prevent behavior that causes a danger to others such as driving or working under the influence. I also support education to prevent abuse and improved treatment for addiction rather than incarceration.

National Security

1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- As a general principle, our military should be reserved for defending our nation from foreign aggression. We should definitely be concerned about hostile governments possessing nuclear weapons, but to the maximum extent possible, that should be accomplished by working with allied nations to limit access. Our intervention in the Middle East should be primarily based in diplomacy rather than military force, though support for allied nations may be necessary at some point, military force should be a last resort.

Administrative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- My first priority is to foster and improve collaboration within Congress. For too long, the major parties have taken action along partisan lines instead of working to find the best solutions for our nation. As an Independent and a Centrist, I will be a swing vote that forces both parties to look for better, more collaborative solutions. I am also passionate about immigration reform. We need to improve access to legal immigration and treat those fleeing oppression and danger with compassion as well enacting immigration policies that better support our economy.