EPHRATA – Multiple candidates from various races attended a local forum hosted at the American Legion Post 28 on Wednesday. One candidate for the Fourth U.S. Congressional District and for Washington State Treasurer showed up.  

Congressional seat

Republican Jarrod Sessler, a candidate running for Congress in Washington's Fourth District, outlined his policies and background during the forum. Sessler is running against incumbent Dan Newhouse, also a Republican who was unable to make it to the forum due to a scheduling conflict. 

Newhouse was in Moses Lake Friday for another event and the Columbia Basin Herald will have coverage of that visit in Tuesday's edition.

"I don’t really care about my name on the wall or a door plaque," Sessler said. "I'm not even really running to win an election. I'm running to help save our country.” 

A Navy veteran, Sessler shared his experiences aboard the USS Constellation, where he qualified as one of the youngest catapult top watches at the age of 18.  

“The ship was groaning and moaning and tweaking and just making lots of noises as we sailed through the ocean to get to where that plane had crashed,” Sessler said. “I think about how America is today. I feel like America is kind of being twisted and flexed and pushed in some ways that it never has been before.” 

On the issue of inflation, Sessler highlighted his admiration for President Trump’s economic strategies. 

“One of the big things, you know, in our country is tariffs,” Sessler said. “This country used to live almost on tariffs, and so we have to reinstitute those. I'm actually a big fan of abolishing the 16th Amendment, which is what is part of our problem in this country, because we gave the federal government the ability to tax us directly.” 

The 16th Amendment reads: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” 

Information regarding the history of the 16th Amendment may be found on Congress’s Constitution website, here: https://bit.ly/USA16AMEND.  

Sessler also addressed environmental and energy issues, particularly electric vehicles.  

“The reason why they jump directly to electric vehicles instead of taking the step with hybrids is because of electric vehicles, they can force us to close gas stations,” Sessler said.  

Finally, Sessler reiterated his commitment to parental control over education by aiming to abolish the Department of Education and allowing parents to have authority over student’s education again.  

“Our local school boards are elected, and if we push that responsibility and that money down to our local school board members,” Sessler said. “When we're not happy with what they do, we just elect someone else.” 

State Treasurer 

Republican Sharon Henek attended the forum to discuss her plan for the Washington State Treasurer. Henek is running against incumbent Democrat Mike Pellicciotti, who did not attend the forum.  

Henek introduced herself saying that if she becomes the treasurer, she will be the first State Treasurer on the entire West Coast that is shorter than five feet tall.  

“I want to have that notoriety,” she said. 

Henek said the State Treasurer position isn’t glamorous, but it is important.  

“No one knows what that person does,” Henek said. “They don't understand anything about the budget, the money, the investments. Yet this is a role that affects every single one of your lives. All of you are affected by the state treasurer, and when elected, I will take your money. So just know that I do want to take your money, but I want to make sure when I take your money, that I take it in the manner that it's supposed to, that those deposits are in the categories it's supposed to by state law ... and that it is spent the way it's supposed to.” 

Henek grew up overseas in Tokyo, Japan on the U.S. Air Force base at Tachikawa. She is a certified public accountant and said she is running for State Treasure because she feels billions of dollars are being mismanaged.  

“I think money is not partisan and so is this job,” Henek said. “This is about doing the right thing. This is about handling money in the right way. I think party lines shouldn't matter, and you shouldn't vote just because of the party. Vote for someone who's qualified.”