RITZVILLE — Incumbent Republican Michael Baumgartner is being challenged for his position in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Carmela Conroy. The winner will represent the Fifth District, which includes sections of Adams County. Conroy and Baumgartner also ran against each other in 2024.

The Columbia Basin Herald asked both candidates the same questions about their candidacy. Their answers are below.

What made you decide to run for Congress? 

Baumgartner: I love Eastern Washington. I’m running for office to protect the America we love, for my five children and all the next generation.

I grew up on the Palouse and got my Economics degree from Washington State University. I worked for the State Department in Iraq and served eight years as state senator, working on a new WSU medical school and transportation infrastructure.  

During my first term in Congress, I’ve helped reduce taxes for working families and small businesses, secure the borders and protect the lower Snake River dams. We passed the first Farm Bill through the House for eight years, and I supported a new $50 billion fund for rural healthcare. I helped enact laws to increase military salaries. I’ve worked to build warm relationships with our trade partners and I’ve been guided by local experts, convening policy advisory groups on issues from agriculture to healthcare.

But there is more to be done – locking in the gains of the Working Families Tax Cut Act, and working to reduce regulations that drive up prices. We need to curb federal overspending that adds to our national debt and fuels inflation. 

I would be honored to keep representing Eastern Washington in Congress.

Conroy: Two years ago was my first campaign. I spent that race learning this district county by county, and I heard the same things everywhere: prices, hospitals and rent.

Then came the tariffs. Retaliatory trade wars hurt Washington wheat, apples and cherries. Farmers are paying more for equipment and getting less for their crops. Families are paying more for groceries and gas. Rural hospitals are under more pressure, and food-aid programs that bought Palouse wheat and lentils were gutted.

Tom Foley was my first ambassador in Tokyo. He told me the job of every public servant is to find solutions for the people you represent. I spent nearly thirty years doing a version of that job. I wasn’t going to sit this one out.

What are the three issues you think are most important, and how would you address them? 

Conroy: Prices and the farm economy come first. Families are paying more, while farmers face higher input costs and weaker export markets. I’d work to end damaging tariffs, reopen markets for Washington crops and restore food-aid programs that buy American-grown products.

Second is rural hospitals. Communities like Colfax, Colville, Ritzville, Dayton and Omak depend on hospitals operating on thin margins. I’d work to restore Medicare and Medicaid funding, reduce administrative burdens and strengthen incentives to recruit doctors and nurses to rural communities.

Third is housing in Spokane. Rents and home prices rose while wages lagged. Spokane has already changed zoning rules; the problem now is financing. I’d protect and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, support historic rehabilitation credits and back gap financing for workforce housing.

And I’d run an office that aggressively pursues federal funding and follows through.

Baumgartner: Affordability: We need to keep taxes low to support families and help businesses invest and grow. In Washington state, it’s particularly important that the federal government not add to the very high state business, property and gas taxes. We need to secure fair trade agreements, particularly with Canada and China. Fuel costs will come down when the fighting in Iran ends. It was critical to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon, but I am hopeful for a resolution. Recent bipartisan legislation to boost housing supply and reduce costs was a good step forward. We also need to keep protecting our dams which provide clean, low-cost electricity.

Restoring trust in government, in particular by passing legislation to prevent individual stocks by members of Congress: I have cosponsored legislation to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks and profiting from their special knowledge. People are elected to serve their communities, not get rich.  

Protecting communities from unwanted data center development: I introduced a bill that protects communities from negative impacts from data centers, so local businesses and families do not see rising electric bills, and our aquifer is protected. We must harness AI to strengthen our economy and safeguard national security, and we need growth and jobs – but not at the expense of current residents.