Eric LeMay

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Eric LeMay

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 4, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Emerson College, 1993

Personal

Birthplace

Puyallup, Wash.

Profession

Self-employed business owner

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Eric LeMay (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Washington's 10th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on August 4, 2020.

LeMay completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

LeMay was born in Puyallup, Washington. He earned a bachelor's degree from Emerson College in 1993. His career experience includes working as a self-employed business owner. He is also the founding director of LeMay - America's Car Museum. He previously worked as the internal communications manager for King County Metro Consolidation, as a marketing director for Callison Architecture, and as a journalist for Tacoma News Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Boston Globe.

LeMay has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Tacoma Sportsmen's Club
• National Association of Automobile Museums, past board member

Elections

2020

See also: Washington's 10th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Washington District 10

Marilyn Strickland defeated Beth Doglio in the general election for U.S. House Washington District 10 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Strickland (D)	49.3	167,937
		Beth Doglio (D)	35.6	121,040
		Other/Write-in votes	15.1	51,430

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 340,407
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House Washington District 10

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House Washington District 10 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marilyn Strickland (D)	20.3	45,988
✔		Beth Doglio (D)	15.2	34,254
		Kristine Reeves (D)	12.9	29,236
		Rian Ingrim (R)	11.4	25,688
		Jackson Maynard (R)	8.2	18,526
		Dean Johnson (R)	7.4	16,700
		Nancy Slotnick (R)	6.7	15,201
		Don Hewett (R)	4.8	10,750
		Phil Gardner (D)	2.3	5,292
		Ryan Tate (R)	1.9	4,196
		Mary Bacon (D)	1.8	3,992
		Todd Buckley (Independent)	1.6	3,552
		Eric LeMay (D)	1.4	3,072
		Joshua Collins (Essential Workers Party)	1.2	2,667
		Richard Boyce (Congress Sucks Party)	1.0	2,302
	Submit photo	Ralph Johnson (R)	0.6	1,441
	Submit photo	Gordon Allen Pross (R)	0.5	1,186
	Submit photo	Sam Wright (D)	0.5	1,129
	Submit photo	Randy Bell (D)	0.2	563
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	267

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 226,002
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Dan Gordon (R)

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Eric LeMay completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by LeMay's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a lifelong resident of South Pierce County and a Bethel High School graduate, and the son of teacher and nurse. My ties and understanding of this district grew out of our family-owned garbage and recycling business, Harold LeMay Enterprises. From the time I was 13 years old, tent camping in Mason county while working on a clean-up crew for the old Shelton landfill, to mitigating areas around transfer stations in Thurston County, to delivering recycling bins during hot summers throughout Pierce County, I've seen the entire district, and helped with infrastructure in rural areas on the most basic levels.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We must listen to our teachers, boost vocational training and the arts in our schools, and rely less on standardized testing.

• We must expand access to our healthcare systems, especially for those most vulnerable.

• We must find solutions for individuals and small businesses as we recover economically while emerging from the pandemic.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Vocational training and the arts in our schools; access and funding for healthcare, including issues addressing of substance abuse and mental health we face today; the role the natural environment plays in our district. We have concerns about water, forest management, fisheries management and farming that are uniquely ours in District 10, and that rely on and require strong Federal representation to maintain and expand upon.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My parents. My father spent the second half of his career also working for the family refuse business. But when I was growing up, he was an art teacher at Bethel Junior High. As a teacher's kid, improving education and specifically alternative educational options for students is one of my legislative priorities. I am talking about alternatives that we've systematically removed - vocational training and the arts. And I'm talking about listening to our teachers and lessening our reliance on standardized testing models.

My mom served as a registered nurse at Good Sam in Puyallup. She later retired as a nurse for the Pierce County Health Department. Her service has fueled my passion to find ways for improving access to healthcare (for those most vulnerable, to be sure, but also for everyone in general), and to address the issues of substance abuse and mental health we face today.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Lawrence of Arabia - epic in scope, but shows that small numbers can affect great change. Also, it is cautionary as it shows that once you arrive and wield power, if you don't know how to apply that power, it is difficult to keep.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Being a great communicator, both verbal and written; possessing an ability to listen, discern and understand all sides of an issue and making informed decisions that best serve the people we represent.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I'm a good communicator, I'm open-minded to others ideas, I'm results-oriented, I'm a bridge-builder rather than a dam-breaker (and that's dam pun). Yes, I have a sense of humor.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities for this office are to represent the District by listening. Listening to local officials, listening to constituents, listening to fellow electees, taking in all of those ideas and concerns, and communicating those ideas in Washington, D.C. Your representative is a liaison.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to follow in the steps of John Coffee, who represented this district in the 1940s and find one vote where in that moment it might not be in my own best interest but it is in the best interest of the country and the people I represent. Coffee did that with his vote on Japanese interment, and then lost his next election.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Ball Four by Jim Boughton. Because it illustrates that sometimes you realize that while you believed you had a grip on something, that something actually had its grip on you all along. That's how I feel about politics.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Paying for healthcare as a self-employed, business owner with a wife and child, and who has had medical emergencies to deal with over the past half-decade.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

What we do here in Washington works. Determining districts should be debated by a commission, and be free from political, Congressional or judicial influence.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The House is truly representative, and gives every district of this country the chance to send a "citizen electorate" to represent the views, ideas and concerns of a specific constituency in our Federal government.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

We need to start seeing political experience beyond just having been elected. Experience happens in working together in the business world. Experience happens in working locally and globally. Everyone should have done at least one big thing - opened their own business, worked in local politics or with local offices. What we need to stop doing as seeing "previous experience" only in terms of having previously been elected to something.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Our country's economic recovery from the pandemic will be at the forefront for at least the next two years. Even longer will be the ramifications of "Black Lives Matter," and beyond - the effect the current climate will have on law enforcement, the products we consume and how our country moves forward. Finally, rebuilding bridges between the sides we call parties will be a priority so that solutions can happen with all of us working together.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes. The House is citizen representatives. The only way to ensure that all citizens are being represented as they wish is to give them the opportunity to change that representation frequently.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Seniority is good for government. Seniority can spans upheaval within time or the government, and bring stability to our elected bodies. There are automatic term limits in place because every elected official has to run again after a specified period of time. Thus, the term limit come from voters by voting someone out of office.

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

Ask me after I've been elected to at least a couple of terms. Until then, the question is moot and there are too many issues to be taken care of first. Leadership can be quiet, and from Day 1 I'd strive to be one of those quiet leaders to start.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Norm Dicks - he quietly wielded power for 30 years in our district. He was a change agent without needing to publicize that he was a change agent.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

The one that sticks out happened on a Zoom meeting. An older woman talked about her great concern about paying her property taxes when she has only her social security check left, since her husband died recently. She didn't know how she would get these taxes paid, which hit me personally and started me thinking about how could the Federal government help people like her and every other homeowner that will face this same situation in this pandemic year.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Footnotes

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Washington's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Maria Cantwell (D)

Patty Murray (D)

Representatives

District 1

Suzan DelBene (D)

District 2

Rick Larsen (D)

District 3

Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (D)

District 4

Dan Newhouse (R)

District 5

Michael Baumgartner (R)

District 6

Emily Randall (D)

District 7

Pramila Jayapal (D)

District 8

Kim Schrier (D)

District 9

D. Adam Smith (D)

District 10

Marilyn Strickland (D)

Democratic Party (10)

Republican Party (2)