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Candidates in Washington's 5th District debate wide-ranging priorities in Spokane forum
Summary
A field of candidates for Washington's 5th Congressional District debated agriculture, public safety, health care, climate, immigration and the budget at a televised forum in Spokane that included a rapid-fire values segment from Braver Angels and Indivisible.
A televised candidate forum in Spokane Monday brought together multiple contenders for Washington's 5th Congressional District to outline their policy priorities and contrast approaches on agriculture, public safety, health care, immigration, climate and the federal budget.
Moderator Jim McCurdy, a Gonzaga law professor, set a four-part format that included two debate rounds, a rapid-fire values segment run by Braver Angels and a one-minute interest statement from each candidate. The event opened with a land acknowledgement delivered by Louis Charbonneau and a Pledge of Allegiance by Girl Scout Ellie Johnston.
Candidates repeatedly framed agriculture and food security as national-security concerns. Anne Marie Danemas said she would "put the focus back on family farms" and called for regional production and R&D support. Renee Holiday blamed what she called "agenda 21" regulatory programs for harming farmers and advocated deregulation and lower fuel costs. Carmela Conroy, Matthew Brady Weldy and Rick Valentine Flynn also discussed farm and rural needs in later answers.
On public safety and guns, positions diverged: Holiday urged increased law-enforcement funding and said she would support arming school staff; Danemas said arming teachers is "one of the worst ideas I've ever heard," emphasized mental-health outreach and community policing.
Health care and the budget were focal points. Danemas, who described surviving a double transplant, argued for an "affordable universal health care system" and said she would refuse corporate PAC money. Carmela Conroy proposed restoring IRS enforcement to collect unpaid taxes; Holiday urged spending cuts and greater domestic oil production.
The candidates also addressed foreign policy, immigration processing backlogs, infrastructure investment and the role of the U.S. Department of Education. In closing statements, Rick Flynn proposed a universal basic income pegged to the poverty line and funded by targeted corporate taxes tied to AI profits; Weldy urged a politics of optimism focused on local success stories; others emphasized local roots, veterans' concerns and job creation.
The forum concluded with brief thanks from the moderator and a reminder to register to vote at votewa.gov. No formal votes or endorsements were recorded at the event.
