Pakootas, Wilson present for 5th district forum

Congressional candidates Joe Pakootas and Dave Wilson sit in between three empty seats supposed to be filled by Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Krystol McGee and Tom Horne at the League of Women Voters candidate forum Wednesday, July 13, at Pullman City Hall.

More empty chairs than candidates sat at the front of the Pullman City Council chambers Wednesday, July 13, as two of the five Fifth Congressional District candidates appeared at a League of Women Voters forum.

Joe Pakootas, Spokane Democrat, and Dave Wilson, Spokane Independent, were the only two candidates to show. League of Women Voters moderator Deb Olson told those in attendance that candidates Krystol McGee, Spokane Libertarian, and Tom Horne, Spokane Republican, both had conflicts which prevented them from attending, and Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Republican incumbent, did not respond to the League’s invitation to attend.

Pakootas and Wilson both spoke at the forum about McMorris-Rodgers, stating that her Congressional attendance record is the second worst in Congress and that she does not represent the Fifth District. Both also said they do not support Donald Trump for president.

Pakootas opened his statements by highlighting his 2014 run for the Congressional seat.

“Three years ago I was recruited to run for this office by Democratic leaders that represent the 10 counties in eastern Washington which make up this Congressional District. In 2014, I received 41 percent of the vote in Spokane County, where 70 percent of the population resides, and 39.3 percent throughout the Congressional District,” he said.

He continued by explaining his reasons for continuing to seek election.

“Let me tell you some of the reasons Joe Pakootas is running. I’m concerned about the future of our children and our grandchildren. Many have lost hope of ever achieving the American dream,” he said. “Youth in their 20s are graduating from college, if they have the chance and opportunity to make it there, with an average debt of over $28,000 and no job. I believe women, minorities and middle-class Americans need a voice in Congress.”

Wilson was then given his chance for opening remarks.

“I’m running for Congress for four primary reasons. Number one, I believe that we need to have campaign finance reform because all the money in elections and lobbying is legal, but it’s corrupted the system. Number two, I think that we’re passing on too much debt to future generations. It’s bad economic policy, and it’s immoral,” he explained. “Number three, I believe we deserve a representative who is visible, accessible and responsive. Representative McMorris-Rodgers is none of those things. I will be. And number four, Congress is broken. We need new civil, bipartisan leadership.”

Throughout the two-hour forum, Pakootas and Wilson were given the opportunity to answer several questions. The two candidates answered questions alternatively, and Wilson opposed the format of not being able to respond to his opponent’s comments as well as the one-minute time limit imposed on the candidates for answering questions.

One question, asked in regard to recent violence seen throughout the U.S., asked for the candidate’s positions on gun control.

“We do need responsible gun ownership. I’m a gun owner myself, and you hear from the NRA and certain Republican Congress people that we’re going to take your guns away from you,” Pakootas began. “I don’t need anybody else’s guns. I have my own guns. And I’m a responsible gun owner.”

Pakootas went on to explain that “weapons of mass casualties” need to be controlled to certain groups.

“Terrorists can go out and buy these,” he said. “You’ve seen that in Orlando and San Bernadino, and we need to stop that ability for terrorists.”

Wilson stuck with his campaign finance reform answer in response to this question.

“The underlying problem is campaign finance reform. The NRA – very powerful, outsized influence,” he said. “They may be the most powerful lobby there is, and they give money to candidates who will support their views. Until we fix that, we’ll never fix this problem. That’s the underlying problem. It’s going to be tough to overcome the NRA. We need common sense gun laws, otherwise it’s very difficult for anyone in the west to get elected who is anti-gun.”

Both candidates said they would support rails to trails movements, a topic of recent discussion with forums organized by Pullman Civic Trust to discuss the fate of the former UP rail line between Colfax and Pullman.

“Anything to do with trails in the beautiful Northwest, we should be supportive of that,” Wilson said. “I haven’t studied it that much, but that would be the answer off the top of my head.”

“The exercise, the healthiness of actually being out there walking, it does relieve carbon going into the air,” Pakootas responded. “Spokane is one of the friendlier towns for biking, and it’s a lot easier for the roads department to maintain the roads if people are riding their bikes. As far as being in the budget, I would support that, and actually I would really support that strongly.”

Pakootas and Wilson also said they support Planned Parenthood, as well as women’s choices and rights to fair wages.

In response to a question about the Constitution, the candidates differed slightly.

“It gives our young people an opportunity to be involved in their own future, so I would be in favor of term limits for both the House and the Senate,” Pakootas said. “We have a prime example here in eastern Washington. She’s on her sixth term. If we have term limits, that would take care of that.”

“The number one thing we need a Constitutional amendment for is campaign finance reform,” Wilson said. “You take care of that, and you don’t need term limits. The system favors the incumbent. Campaign finance is the root problem of all the problems we have.”

Additionally, they were asked about what the oath to uphold the Constitution means to them.

“I’m a big fan of the Constitution,” Wilson began. “It’s the most important document written by any governmental body ever. It’s ingenious … this is a masterpiece. We’ve amended it 27 times; we should not amend it very often, except we do have one, I think you know which one that is. This document helps me sleep at night because even if someone like Donald Trump gets elected, the Constitution keeps him in check. I am absolutely confident of that. We are lucky to have that document, so I would fight to the death to protect and defend the Constitution.

“I have taken an oath of office when I was sworn in as a council member of the Colville Tribe. We have a Constitution and bylaws that represents our sovereignty,” Pakootas responded. “That’s what it does is protects the sovereignty of the American people. In that oath of office I swore to uphold and protect and to serve the people. That’s one of the major functions of the Constitution is to make sure that you uphold that and protect and serve the American people.”

The candidates also had the chance to respond to a question about immigration.

“We are a nation of immigrants,” said Pakootas, before joking, “I may be one of the only people in here who is not an immigrant. We’ve had tribal councils across the nation to allow the 200 and some million immigrants that are living here to stay. We need to protect those people who are coming here to live a life of freedom and to live the American dream.”

Wilson stated, “You need to take the fear of deportation away. There’s no way you can deport 11-13 million people; it would bankrupt the country. It makes no sense. This is something that needs to be done in a bipartisan fashion.”

Both candidates ended by asking and thanking those in attendance for their votes and support.

The primary election ballots were mailed last week and are due back to the election’s office by Aug. 2.