Six challengers take on incumbent DelBene for Congress

Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene faces six opponents in her bid for re-election in a congressional district where Democrats and Republicans are evenly divided.

DelBene, the only Democrat in the race, is up against Republicans Pedro Celis, Ed Moats, Robert Sutherland and John Orlinski; perennial hopeful Mike the Mover; and Richard Todd who is not aligned with any party.

They’re battling to represent the 1st Congressional District which stretches from suburbs in northeast King County to the Canadian border. It takes in parts of Snohomish County east of I-5 including Darrington, Lake Stevens, Mill Creek, Monroe, Snohomish and Sultan

The top two vote getters in the Aug. 5 primary will advance to a run-off in November.

DelBene, 52,* of Medina, who is favored to win a second term, said she has fulfilled her pledge to seek bipartisan solutions to problems.

The former Microsoft Corp. executive said she secured Republican support for her amendments to bills on agriculture and national security and she is teaming with GOP members on immigration reform and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.

“I think I’ve shown myself to be someone willing to work with others to make sure we get things done,” she said.

As one example, she cites inclusion of $200 million in the Farm Bill to provide job training programs for food stamp recipients.

And legislation to rein in the National Security Agency contained a provision she authored allowing Verizon, Google and other high tech companies to disclose more about those requests for information they receive from government agencies.

On other hot button issues, she endorses an immigration reform bill backed by 200 House members to improve border security along with providing a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants already in the country.

DelBene, who is pro-abortion rights, backs increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. She supports Obamacare but also backs revisions such as expanding tax credits for small businesses.

Celis, 55, of Redmond, is backed by many established Republican leaders in Washington including Reps. Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, as well as the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Celis arrived from Mexico with a suitcase, a bag of books and an undergraduate degree. He earned a doctorate in computer science and had a career that concluded as a Microsoft engineer almost two years ago.

Celis talks about how he and his wife have lived the ‘“American Dream” and his campaign is about ensuring others can too.

“We’ve been blessed in this country and we want to serve this country,” he said.

But the policies espoused by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress threaten to prevent others from living the dream.

“This government with good intentions has gone haywire and ends up preventing going up the economic ladder for many people,” he said.

Celis describes himself as a problem-solver and “a fiscal conservative, limited government and free enterprise guy.” He wants to repeal Obamacare and supports immigration reform that contains a mechanism for bringing in needed foreign workers. There also must be policies to enable those here illegally to seek citizenship without giving them amnesty, he said.

On social issues, Celis said he voted against legalizing gay marriage and opposes abortion.

Moats, 70, of Arlington, is a self-described “conservative blade of grass in the conservative grassroots.” A college instructor, he also consults for the county Farm Bureau and is a former policy analyst for the Snohomish County Council.

He said he’s running because the country is in “chaos” because of Obama’s policies.

“I want to restore the economy, the military and order and sense to our foreign affairs,” he said.

Sutherland, 54, of Granite Falls, is a retired scientist who has become active in the Republican Party since 2009.

“I am running for Congress for my kids. I am extremely concerned with the way we’re going as a country,” he said. “Both parties are responsible for putting the country into debt. Both parties have been guilty of not securing our borders.”

Sutherland and Moats share similar views on many issues. Both oppose gay marriage and are anti-abortion with Moats trumpeting his endorsement from Human Life of Washington.

Obamacare should be repealed and the nation’s borders secured against people crossing them illegally before there is talk of reforming the nation’s immigration laws, they said.

Todd, 85, of Snoqualmie, does not affiliate with any political party on the ballot and that’s a key point of his candidacy.

Congress is deadlocked and can’t carry out the purposes for which it was founded, he said.

“Both major parties are seeking to be the dominant party and I think that’s dangerous for the country,” he said. “Basically I’m running to deny either of the two major parties ability to dominate Congress.”

Mike the Mover, 61, of Mill Creek, is running as a member of the National Union Party. He notes President Abraham Lincoln did this in his 1864 re-election campaign to thwart opposition from within Republican Party.

Of his perennial bid for office dating back to 1988, he said, “I have enjoyed with a passion, each and every ‘run for office’, not as a marketing scheme, but as a ‘thorn in the foot’ to those who would use their foot to stomp on me. Very much like Lincoln did to his own Party.”

Orlinski, 59, of Bellevue, ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2010 against Rep. Dave Reichert, R-WA. and as a Republican in 2012 against Rep. Adam Smith, D-WA.

This time he is again running as an “independent populist Republican who is fiscally conservative and moderate on social issues,” according to his candidate statement.

Orlinski lives in the 9th Congressional District. He can run in this race because federal law does not require candidates for Congress to reside in the district they seek to represent.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Suzan DelBene

Party: Democrat

Age: 52

Experience: Congresswoman, elected in 1st Congressional District in 2012; former director of the state Department of Revenue, former Microsoft vice president.

Website: http://www.delbeneforcongress.com/

Pedro Celis

Party: Republican

Age: 55

Experience: Retired Microsoft engineer, former chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly; member of President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election committee and Viva Bush Coalition

Website: http://www.pedroforcongress.com/

Ed Moats

Party: Republican

Age: 70

Experience: College instructor, consultant for Snohomish County Farm Bureau, former policy analyst with Snohomish County Council, former lawyer.

Website: http://www.moatsforcongress.com/home.html

Robert Sutherland

Party: Republican

Age: 54

Experience: Snohomish County Republican Party Executive Committee, Vice-Chairman 44th Legislative District; retired scientist

http://www.sutherlandusa.com/

Richard Todd

Party: None listed

Age: 85

Experience: Chief engineer for commercial fishing vessels; Founder and trustee of Todd Medical Foundation

Website: www.indiepac.org

Mike the Mover

Party: National Union Party

Age: 61

Experience: Household goods carrier; candidate for state and federal offices numerous times since 1988

Website: None

John Orlinski

Party: Republican

Age: 59

Experience: Social Worker with state Department of Social and Health Services; Financial planner, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; former assistant professor in political science

Website: www.johnorlinski.com

Correction, July 28, 2014: Suzan DelBene is 52 years old. Her age was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

http://www.sutherlandusa.com/

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.