‘It’s about electing ‘we’’

Soon after Jim McDermott announced he would not seek reelection earlier this month, Pramila Jayapal started getting emails about her potential interest in the soon-to-be-open 7th Congressional District seat.

“It took me probably at least 24 hours to really believe that I might think about it,” she said.

Those thoughts became reality on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 21), as the 37th District state senator and national advocate for human rights announced her bid for the open seat in front of a raucous crowd of supporters at Seattle Central College.

Jayapal joined what is quickly becoming a crowded field, one that already included Metropolitan King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (no relation), 43rd District Rep. Brady Walkinshaw and local businessman Jeff Stilwell.

Mobilizing support

One of the issues at the top of Jayapal’s platform is addressing income inequality. For her, effectively approaching the issue includes raising the minimum wage and establishing paid sick days and maternity leave, as efforts “that make sure that every family has a dignified platform to exist from.”

Also on her list are expanding Social Security and Medicare and ensuring students can attend college debt-free. 

“I believe that young people have to be able to know that they can get a higher education without thinking that they’re going to be saddled to debt,” said Jayapal, who was born in India and came to the United States alone when she was 16 years old to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. 

During her speech, Jayapal also said she would fight to expand access to women’s health care, including abortion care. 

While currently serving her first term in the state Senate, she cited two decades of experience working on national and federal issues, advocating on the topics of public health, international affairs and immigration reform, among others. In that time, she said she’s built a strong network on the Congressional level.

“In some ways, I think I’ve had the most experience of any candidate that’s currently declared, working in Congress,” she said. 

Among her advocacy experience is founding, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the Hate Free Zone Campaign of Washington (now OneAmerica), a group that has become the largest immigrant and refugee advocacy organization in the state. She’s also served as co-founder of We Belong Together, an effort to mobilize women in support of “common-sense immigration policies.”

Early endorsements

Among those who voiced their support for Jayapal at Thursday’s announcement were reproductive justice advocate Justis Phillips; University of Washington junior Susana Roman, who got involved with OneAmerica in high school; and 46th District Sen. David Frockt.

Roman said, as a woman of color, she was able to see herself in Jayapal, and as a young person, she saw someone fighting for her future.

Frockt, whose name had also been bandied about as a potential candidate for the seat, said when he decided not to run, he believed Jayapal was the most qualified of those weighing a bid.

“I see all the right qualities,” Frockt said. “I see someone who can stand up and be a champion rhetorically, but I also see someone who gets in and does the work, the nitty-gritty work of governing and legislating and building coalitions, and I think that’s what we need.”

Also in the crowd for the announcement was Sharon Maeda, a longtime community activist and the former executive director of Pacifica Radio. She called Jayapal a facilitator and mediator and commended her efforts for working across the aisle.

“There are passionate people, and there are progressive people, and there are smart people, but she’s got it all rolled into one,” Maeda said.

As for the man Jayapal would replace in Washington, D.C., Maeda said she’s confident Jayapal can carry the torch: “It’s very, very hard to think of somebody who can follow him and pick up the mantle and really move forward with a progressive agenda, and she absolutely can do that.”

At the end of her speech, Jayapal harkened back to her last campaign as she launches the next.

“I said this during my state Senate campaign, and I’m going to say it again today: This campaign is really not about electing me. It’s not about electing me. It’s about electing ‘we,’” she said. “The ‘we’ that is going to build the movement on the inside, on the outside and in between, that is going to bring about the changes that we know we deserve.”

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