By The Herald Editorial Board
The general election race for the 1st Congressional District offers voters a choice between a six-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Suzan DelBene, and Republican challenger Jeb Brewer.
Since the redistricting that followed the 2020 census, the 1st Congressional District includes a relatively narrow swath of communities centered along Highway 9 and I-405 between Arlington and Bellevue.
Brewer has had a 30-year career in construction and operations and has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology. He has previously run for the state Senate in 2022 and the state House in 2020.
DelBene lost her first attempt for the seat in 2010 but then won in an open contest in 2012 and was reelected five times since. DelBene serves on the House Ways and Means committee and also is chair of the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, selected for the role by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, following Democrats narrow miss in winning a majority in 2022. Prior to serving in Congress, DelBene headed the state Department of Revenue and worked in the technology field, including two stints with Microsoft. She has a master’s in business.
Both candidates were interviewed separately by the editorial board.
Brewer said his previous runs for state legislative races prepared him for his run for federal office and he seeks to offer voters a change, noting DelBene’s 12-year tenure in Congress.
“By my definition, that’s a career politician,” he said. “We need a change of ideas and people every few years. I think she’s definitely become part of the establishment, and it’s time to shake things up a little bit.”
Brewer promised to focus on crime and public safety, returning stability to America and encouraging more manufacturing by reducing regulations, restrictions and mandates regarding labor and the environment, though he said he does support further development of clean energy sources and transmission infrastructure.
On immigration, Brewer said he doesn’t support mass deportation, but would deport those found guilty of crimes.
Brewer said he also supports a reform, called the STOCK Act, that would specifically prohibit members of Congress from taking advantage of nonpublic information in decisions about the purchase and sale of investments and provide quicker transparency for lawmakers’ financial transactions.
On the issue of abortion, Brewer said he supports the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, but would not support a national ban on abortion, preferring that each state leave the question to its voters.
DelBene, leading the campaign to win a House majority for her party, takes that responsibility seriously and sees it as necessary to good government, noting the near paralysis of the House’s business because of Republicans’ narrow majority and infighting. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, she noted, had pledged to get appropriations bills through the House before the end of July. Instead, Congress had to pass a continuing resolution that put off budget issues until Dec. 20 to avoid a government shutdown.
Republicans, she said, can’t seem to agree even amongst themselves — much less finding compromise with Democrats — on something as fundamental as the budget.
Jeffries asked her to head the campaign effort, “and the reason I agreed was because I don’t know how we accomplish anything if we don’t have folks who want to govern,” she said. “I came to Congress to govern. I want to get things done.”
That’s not to say there haven’t been accomplishments during her recent terms, including the Chips and Science Act to aid the nation’s tech industry and meet the need for semiconductors, the Inflation Reduction Act and its clean energy investments and climate solutions, and the expanded — but temporary — Child Tax Credit, which led to a significant drop in childhood poverty.
With big tax decisions before Congress in 2025, DelBene said she hopes Congress can again adopt an expanded child tax credit, as well as other measures to encourage affordable housing, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and funding that previously aided projects including Housing Hope’s Twin Lakes expansion.
DelBene also noted House passage of a package of bills, now waiting for markup in the Senate, that includes further funding for the program she shepherded following the Oso landslide to use LIDAR to map landslide hazards across the country. DelBene kept that legislation as a priority even after the Stillaguamish Valley was returned to the 2nd Congressional District.
DelBene, drawing on her professional technology background, also has been an advocate for data privacy and other information technology concerns. She’s been a proponent of a national and comprehensive data privacy bill.
As well, there was agreement over the federal requirement that the social media app TikTok either sell to an American buyer or close down. DelBene voted for the bill, but wants to see broader legislation that would address data privacy and youths’ use of all social media apps.
She and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., had a bipartisan bill before the energy and commerce committee, but it was removed from consideration before markup, again because of Republican infighting.
“We should be helping set international standards, but we can’t do that when we don’t have a domestic standard,” she said.
On access to abortion and reproductive issues, DelBene is skeptical of claims by some Republicans that a national ban would not be sought if the party had control of Congress and the White House.
“We’ve seen states try to prevent people from even seeking care in other states and criminalize that,” she said, and of women with complications who can’t get adequate care in their home state. DelBene is cosponsor of legislation to codify Roe v. Wade’s access rights nationally.
Even in a constrained house during her most recent term, DelBene did mark some wins with bills that either passed the chamber or became law, including legislation that addressed the shortage of infant formula in 2022.
While no longer chair of the caucus, DelBene remains part of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, an indication of her pragmatism and focus on finding common ground with other members of Congress. That she was selected to head the effort to win a Democratic majority for the next Congress also speaks to the respect she’s earned among peers during her 12 years.
DelBene has proved her value as an effective and responsive lawmaker during that time, representing not just her constiuents but all of Washington, and makes a robust case for a seventh term.
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