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Shannon Hader
Shannon Hader (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Washington's 8th Congressional District. She lost in the primary on August 7, 2018.
To learn more about the top-two primary, visit Washington's 8th Congressional District election (August 7, 2018 top-two primary)
To learn more about the general election, visit Washington's 8th Congressional District election, 2018
Biography
Hader served as director of the Division of Global HIV & TB at the CDC. Prior to that, she worked for the U.S. Public Health Service. She received her M.D. from Columbia University and her bachelor's degree from Stanford University.[2]
Elections
2018
General election
Kim Schrier defeated Dino Rossi in the general election for U.S. House Washington District 8 on November 6, 2018.
General election
General election for U.S. House Washington District 8
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kim Schrier (D) | 52.4 | 164,089 |
 | Dino Rossi (R) | 47.6 | 148,968 | |
| Total votes: 313,057 | |||
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Top-two primary
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House Washington District 8 on August 7, 2018.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House Washington District 8
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dino Rossi (R) | 43.1 | 73,288 |
| ✔ | | Kim Schrier (D) | 18.7 | 31,837 |
 | Jason Rittereiser (D) | 18.1 | 30,708 | |
 | Shannon Hader (D) | 12.5 | 21,317 | |
 | Jack Hughes-Hageman (R) | 2.5 | 4,270 | |
| Gordon Allen Pross (R) | 1.2 | 2,081 | ||
| Thomas Cramer (D) | 0.9 | 1,468 | ||
 | William Eugene Grassie (Independent) | 0.7 | 1,163 | |
| Richard Reyes (L) | 0.7 | 1,154 | ||
 | Keith Arnold (Independent) | 0.6 | 1,090 | |
 | Patrick Dillon (Neither Major Party) | 0.5 | 898 | |
| Todd Mahaffey (Independent) | 0.4 | 673 | ||
| Total votes: 169,947 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brian Kostenko (D)
- Poga Ahn (D)
- Robert Hunziker (D)
- Brayden Olson (D)
Campaign themes
2018
Hader’s campaign website stated the following:
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Economy & Jobs I tell you this because it’s important to know how my family’s history frames my position on jobs and the economy. Every decision I make and every vote I cast will be with the intention of doing what’s right for the hard-working people of the 8th District – people like my mom, dad, siblings, cousins, and grandparents – and people like you and your neighbors. As your congresswoman, my priorities will be: Ensuring that America is competitive now and in the future. This includes supporting science, research, and innovation both the public and private sector, making college more affordable and promoting community colleges, apprenticeships, and technical careers – particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math disciplines, creating an employee pipeline for the technology-based industries that are vital to our area. Reversing Trump’s tax giveaways to the rich and making the tax code instead benefit the middle class, reforming policies that penalize wage-earners and reward unearned income, and removing tax breaks and loopholes that only benefit the extremely wealthy. Supporting small businesses by ensuring they can access credit, loans, and the kind of technical assistance that will help them grow. Putting laws in place that make workers more secure and ends worker instability and abuse. I will support a federal minimum wage that actually supports full-time workers; paid sick leave so employees don’t have to sacrifice health for a job; worker scheduling rules that gives employees certainty regarding their hours; and overtime rules to make sure that workers get paid for all hours they work. Putting protections against sexual harassment in the workplace, particularly for low-wage workers and jobs that are predominantly held by women. Assisting homeowners by keeping the housing market stable, investing in affordable housing, and supporting reforms that prevent predatory lending and fend off foreclosures. Helping families care for seniors by giving tax credits to help ease the financial burden of long-term needs and expanding programs that assist families who care for elderly or disabled family members. Addressing our nation’s energy issues with the promotion of green energy – and supporting the purposeful development of this “transitional economy” by training workers displaced from other energy-focused jobs. Encouraging foreign trade and nurturing partnerships that are critical for agriculture and manufacturing jobs, while enforcing standards for labor, the environment, and health quality, so American companies are playing on a level field with the competition. Healthcare I became a doctor for the same simple reason I want to be your congresswoman: I want to help people. That’s why I’ve spent the last several decades working to improve health across the country and around the world. I’m an internist and a pediatrician who’s cared for both children and adults in clinics nationally and internationally, and worked in the private and public sector. I’ve helped clinics improve quality, supported them to become federally qualified health centers, and served as a Trustee of a safety net hospital during times of healthcare reform. I’ve served as a Commander in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (one of the uniformed U.S. services, along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Commissioned Officer Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). I led the Division of Global HIV & TB at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), which consisted of a team nearly 2,000 strong and a budget of approximately $2.4 billion. I acted as the senior scientific advisor to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which contributed to more than 2.2 million babies being born HIV-free. I’ve worked under four White House Administrations. And as your congresswoman, these will be my healthcare priorities: 100% truly accessible, affordable, high-quality healthcare for all; Lowering drug costs by using the bargaining power of Medicare, and ensuring robust research and development of new drugs and devices without having consumers “pay twice”; Lowering premiums, especially for young healthy people, by allowing Medicare opt-ins at progressively younger ages; Lowering costs and improving predictability, by implementing price transparency, accelerating cost reforms that work to incentivize outcomes, modernizing fraud response, and exploring ways to increase provider-client time, while decreasing bureaucracy; Ensuring that the federal government provides flexibility and support to states that are pursuing single-payer or all-payer approaches to healthcare. Environment There’s never been a more important time for the 8th District to have a representative in Congress who can protect our shared resources. The Trump Administration seems determined to figuratively and literally bulldoze its way over environmental regulations that govern air and water pollution, wildlife protection, public lands, and science-based decision-making. As your congresswoman, I will be duty-bound to stand in opposition to such policies, and these will be my priorities: Leadership and Innovation – Combating climate change. As a scientist and a doctor, I will fight to ensure that decisions are made based on evidence and sound science, not the fact-fuzzy opinions of those who take money from the fossil fuel industry. Across our “purple” district, we are united in our connection to the land, air, and water – and in recognition that global climate change is REAL and will continue to have devastating effects on our world and region if we do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green energy without burdening our farmers and small businesses. As your congresswoman, I will promote comprehensive climate change reform, de-incentivize fossil fuel production while incentivizing alternative clean energy, and invest in technology and infrastructure that will support a bright, clean future; Ensuring that the United States remains known as an active and enthusiastic proponent of the Paris Climate Agreement and opposing President Trump’s withdrawal from the pact, not only to emphasize the importance of the future health of our planet, but also to make sure that America is the leading voice in environmental policy. Promoting green energy projects that create jobs statewide, and demanding purposeful inclusion of transitional training and positions so that our experienced workers from fossil fuel-associated industries lead the way with new applications of their skills to green energy production; Protecting the health of our citizens by spearheading science-based research and response to combat the effects of climate change on our people and communities. Mitigation – Instituting policies and funding resources that will help prevent, lessen, and recover from the kinds of climate impacts that we are already experiencing, such as the devastating impact of wildfires in the Pacific Northwest; Investing in the ongoing clean-up of critical resources and sites across Washington, including the Puget Sound and Hanford nuclear site, through local projects and partnerships. Protection – Protecting public lands such as national parks, national forests, and wildlife refuges that belong to all of us. Sadly, President Trump and certain factions of the Republican parties are working to “transfer” or privatize our public places for the benefit of energy companies and the extremely wealthy. As your congresswoman, I will work tirelessly to reject such ideas and protect our shared lands from being sold off, contaminated, or otherwise abused; Improving the management of Washington state’s salmon population, with an eye toward protecting the fishing industry while preserving our region’s iconic fish, and in turn, Puget Sound’s resident orcas which feed on them; Championing initiatives that protect our wilderness and recreation areas from development and promote healthy forests, clean waters, and robust wildlife. Earned Benefits As a doctor, I took an oath to help people. As your congresswoman, I will continue to abide by that promise to protect your earned benefits from those who would aim to eliminate, cut, or alter those benefits to the detriment of the people I serve. I will fight to make earned benefits work more efficiently with additional supports. And I will defend policies that provide, protect, and preserve pensions and defined benefits. My top priorities regarding earned benefits will be: Sending the clear message – routinely and repeatedly: “hands off our earned benefits”; Protecting Social Security against suspect schemes that would privatize it, turning it from a program that guarantees a secure retirement into one that would benefit the financial giants of Wall Street. Additionally, I will strengthen the program by promoting sensible reforms that will extend the program’s solvency for future generations, as well as extend benefit eligibility for children of retired, disabled, or deceased workers, or people with disabilities; Fighting to ensure the solvency of Social Security – such as lifting the cap on Social Security wages – without raising the retirement age; Lowering drug prices by empowering Medicare to negotiate for prices that are low and reasonable, while still incentivizing the development of new treatments and cures – without our paying twice, three times, or more for research and development; Expanding innovative aspects of Medicare that work, so that the people of the 8th District – especially those in our more rural areas – can more easily get the right care at the right time. This includes expanding telemedicine options like those available to those enrolled in the chronic disease program; Improving Medicare for healthy aging by covering eyes, ears, and teeth and raising coverage from 80% to 100% to eliminate the need for expensive supplemental insurance; Modernizing fraud prevention to prevent seniors from being taken advantage of or used as pawns by dishonest providers, protecting seniors from identity theft and other financial scams, and putting more money back into the system; Supporting those families who care for seniors at home, reducing bureaucratic barriers to smoother transition to assisted living when needed and ensuring that critical Medicaid dollars that support our seniors in nursing homes are not cut; Ensuring the efficiency and solvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance by streamlining processes, reducing waiting periods, instituting improved fraud and incorrect payment checks, increasing allowances for families to set up more stable back-up supports for those with disabilities, and making it easier and less risky for those looking to return to work; Opposing any legislation or regulatory changes that would limit or negatively impact pensions and defined benefits. Additionally, I will support pension guarantee funds like the Pension Protection Act that take measures to protect pensions from going broke or otherwise not paying their beneficiaries. I will also oppose raising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums as a way to fix years of miscalculations in the way multi-employer pension plans have been set up and managed. Retirees cannot be expected to shoulder reduced benefits and workers cannot be expected to reduce current take-home wages to fix these miscalculations – and none of us can afford to artificially pit workers against retirees. Immigration That promise includes the power of immigrants. They’re a part of who we are as a people, and those who would deny them, deny the very thing that makes America great. We are a better nation when we recognize and embrace the tremendous value that immigrants bring to our great country. It’s a fact: Global is local. This administration’s anti-immigration agenda goes hand-in-hand with its isolationist agenda – and both are dangerous to our country. We are stronger, smarter, safer, and wealthier when we’re open to the best ideas, partnerships, and people. That’s why I will be a tireless champion of our newest citizens and will fight the racism and short-sightedness of recent anti-immigration policies. Among my priorities as your Congresswoman will be: To support a clean and robust Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) bill, so that those who were brought to our country through no action of their own are not exiled from home and sent to a country they’ve never known; To support comprehensive immigration reform that improves our process and predictability for legal immigration and includes a pathway to citizenship so that families are kept together and workers and employers – including those in the agriculture and technology sectors – are provided with more certainty regarding status; To maintain and modernize our temporary worker visa programs to ensure a robust workforce for agriculture and specialty jobs while facilitating opportunities for workers to more fully participate in corporate growth, employee organizations, and labor unions, recognizing skilled workers as a distinct and complementary part of our overall workforce; To champion legislation that allows graduate students and others who have studied and trained in the U.S. to continue to contribute to our country with a clear path to citizenship, so that we are not unnecessarily “exporting” top-notch skills and talents after we have invested in them; To rapidly clear the backlog of pending special immigrant visas and asylum cases, including those of people who have helped our troops overseas at great personal risk to themselves and their families. Leaving these people in an uncertain “limbo” limits their ability to plan and contribute; To stand up to the Trump Administration with clear messages: We will not build his wall, and we will not support immigration policies that discriminate based on ethnicity or religion; To provide immigration and border enforcement agencies with the tools and training needed to ensure robust border protection that is also non-discriminatory and humane, with respect for the law and due process; To live up to the ideals of America by welcoming those refugees who are fleeing the horrible realities of countries torn by war, persecution, poverty, and starvation. Gun Safety I support the second amendment and have family and friends who are avid hunters and responsible gun owners – including a niece and nephew who own a hunting expedition company and hunt much of their own food. I also support common-sense gun legislation. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones in the horrific and all-too-common mass shootings that plague our country. And too many families have also experienced gun violence in other ways, such as accidents and suicides. I believe we can find common ground, where we can see fewer gun-related deaths, while still protecting the rights of responsible gun owners. America has a problem – make no mistake, a public health problem – and it needs to be addressed. This means finding more solutions to the full spectrum of gun deaths: from mass shootings and murders to accidents to suicides. In addition to the common-sense measures that we can take immediately to keep weapons out of dangerous hands, what additional interventions will help? What’s needed to further empower family, teachers, classmates, and friends to report concerns, and to whom? What actions work in response? What interventions work better for different age groups or different contexts to reduce the risk of gun violence? How can we get everyone across communities to help promote safe firearm storage? How many deaths and injuries would be prevented if existing policies – such as orders to relinquish firearms in cases of domestic violence – were fully implemented, and what would that take? The fact is, we don’t know and we need to find out. As a doctor and a scientist, I believe in evidence-based solutions. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been effectively prohibited from doing research into what works to reduce and prevent gun deaths. We need more answers and more solutions. And we need to fund what works. As your congresswoman, my priorities regarding gun safety will be: To mandate a full public health response to gun violence, to find out what policies, programs, mental health support, young adult programs, or other measures will do the most to reduce gun deaths, including those due to suicides and accidents, and fund those interventions; To expand background check measures to include Internet and gun show sales nationally, strengthen systems used to conduct such checks rapidly and efficiently, and enforce compliance with existing policies; To reinstate the Obama-era regulation that would have made it easier for background checks to accurately identify people with certain mental illnesses who are not currently allowed to purchase guns – a regulation that President Trump overturned; To encourage “smart gun” technology that incorporates safety features that prevent misuse, accidental shootings, gun thefts, and use of the weapon against the owner; To renew the ban of the manufacture of assault weapons, and ban high-capacity magazines and “bump stocks” such as the one used in Las Vegas. To support and promote safe storage: keeping guns locked, unloaded, and stored properly to decrease the chances of an unintentional shooting or of a child getting access to weapons. Women’s Health All of this is abhorrent to me personally, but even more so in my role as a doctor. I’ve seen firsthand the direct impact quality services has on women’s lives. And I’ve seen the “death-by-a-thousand-cuts” kind of legislation and regulations that effectively limits women’s options – especially poor and minority women – to live a healthy life. Burdensome and unnecessary bureaucratic requirements on facilities, or artificial and arbitrary staffing requirements that do nothing to enhance medical care, safety, and health outcomes, but rather increase the costs and decrease the feasibility of services in order to shut down access, must be called out for what they are. I promise to be your voice calling them out in Congress and will be a tireless advocate for women’s rights to make decisions about their own care, with these as my priorities: Ensuring that every woman’s health decisions are between her and her doctor; Fighting any and all efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, including calling out the anti-competitive and illegal nature of artificially removing qualified organizations from competition for U.S. funds and government contracting. Its funding, including Title X funding and the ability to bill Medicaid and Medicare like any other health provider, must be protected; Protecting, expanding, and improving the Affordable Care Act, with an eye toward ensuring that women have access to birth control and comprehensive women’s health services, regardless who employs them; Supporting innovation such as telemedicine to connect with difficult-to-reach individuals, especially those in the 8th District’s more rural areas; Reversing the re-implementation of the Global Gag Rule, which bans international organizations that receive U.S. funding from offering any information about abortions or working with any providers that provide information or abortion services funded by other sources. This not only hurts women around the world, but greatly hampers the ability of organizations such as PEPFAR and others to fight HIV, malaria, and promote healthcare in general; De-incentivizing states to institute artificial, non-evidence-based barriers to healthcare access by penalizing their federal healthcare funding; Standing up against individual state laws that limit women’s healthcare access and options by making them travel great distances or even to other states to receive care; Oppose bureaucratic pre-abortion requirements such as state-scripted counseling, waiting periods, and mandatory ultrasounds, whose sole purpose is to create barriers, distort the evidence, and manipulate women away from making their own decisions; Require “truth in advertising” so that so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that do not include licensed medical professionals cannot falsely advertise themselves as providers of medical services in order to trick women into coming through their doors; Fighting any efforts to undo Roe v. Wade and standing in opposition to any state or individual who would limit or put up barriers to a woman’s right to have an abortion. Education And that’s why, as your Congresswoman, I will fight for public education so that your kids have dynamic opportunities like I did – and I will fight for programs that support workforce training and apprenticeships for displaced workers and returning veterans. We’re at a dangerous crossroads for education. The current administration is aiming to reverse and delay the implementation of Obama-era rules that address the disparities in treatment of students. They want to make it more difficult for students to pay back their loans. They’re shrinking the budget and the influence of the Department of Education. And – incredibly – they’re looking at arming teachers as a response to school shootings. As your Congresswoman, I will defend our children and our schools, with these priorities top-of-mind: Supporting early childhood education, so that every student has an opportunity to succeed from the very beginning and are prepared when they finally get to the classroom; Championing Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) programs to ensure America’s continued leadership in an increasingly technology-centered economy; Supporting early childhood education, so that every student has an opportunity to succeed from the very beginning and are prepared when they finally get to the classroom; Expanding and enhancing opportunities for all students, including those from military families, those with disabilities, and those who are homeless or in foster homes; Helping teachers by opposing any federal role in teacher evaluations, expanding professional development opportunities, and improving teacher and principal pay and retention; Ensuring we are addressing issues beyond the classroom – hunger, homelessness, poverty, addiction among caregivers – that make it harder for students to learn inside the classroom. Expanding access to programs like the American Psychiatric Association’s “Typical or Troubled” and other evidence-based programs that work with school communities to improve student mental health and reduce stigma through early recognition, intervention, and treatment of anxiety, trauma, and other mental health conditions; Mobilizing funds to make our schools safe and secure learning environments for the school community; Making sure that the federal government supports education for those with disabilities provides them with the services they need to reach their learning goals; Ensuring that every student has the opportunity to pursue higher education by making college more affordable and student loans lower interest and easier to repay, and eliminating the need for loans for community college; Promoting community and technical colleges and apprenticeship programs as core and celebrated parts of our educational system, so that students with a passion and a plan to immediately enter the skilled workforce after graduation have more options; Supporting and expanding access to apprenticeships across the board, particularly for men and women who are looking at career changes, high schoolers exploring long-term career options, and veterans returning from service; Making sure that career training is accessible for those who are seeking to change professions or those who have been displaced from their jobs; Spearheading supports that ensure that students, those who are seeking to change careers, and returning veterans see all opportunities available to them, so they are not limited to certain tracks. Standing with labor unions to support, enforce, and grow apprenticeship programs through thoughtful lawmaking including ensuring federally funded infrastructure programs make space for apprentice-workers. Trade And we’re now facing unnecessarily perilous times – brought about not by external forces in the world market, but by rash and injudicious statements by President Trump. International trade accounts for more than a quarter of Washington state’s GDP and 40 percent of our jobs are tied to such trade. Yet, our President, to the dismay of both parties, has opted to invite a trade war – this time with China – that has potentially devastating results for the 8th District. In 2017, China purchased in the neighborhood of $50 million in apples from Washington state, along with $1.5 million in pears, and a whopping $127 million in cherries. And in response to the White House’s threat of obscene tariffs, China – the top export market for our cherries, pears, and apples – will impose a 15 percent tariff. That’s a penalty that the farmers on the east side of our district cannot bear. And on the west side of our district, concerns focus on the how the Chinese tariffs will affect aircraft manufacturing. So far, they’ve only targeted specific Boeing 737 models (which is bad enough), but looking at the bigger picture, a trade war that sparks a global recession would mean an enormous downturn in aircraft sales – and a job-killer for our region. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the huge number of other manufacturers and small businesses that rely on foreign trade. For those reasons, your next representative in the 8th District must combine an understanding of our jobs and families with experience in global diplomacy – the kind of experience that I’ve gained over decades of working with diplomats and governments to combat disease. And the kind of experience that will allow me to focus on the following: Standing up to and speaking out against the kind of “shoot-from-the-hip” ego-driven diplomacy that threatens our global, national, and local economy, and stabilizing relationships with our allies by demonstrating a check on the White House by Congress; Enforcing existing trade agreements to ensure a level playing field for Washington businesses – specifically calling out currency manipulation, unfair government subsidies, and sub-par labor, environmental, and health standards that undercut our industries, and holding specific bad players accountable; Understanding that solutions to trade issues must be nuanced and specific (not “one-size-fits-all”), to recognize and serve the diverse businesses and industries of the 8th and to work toward agreements that best benefit us all; Opening markets for Washington farmers and producers of goods by breaking down export barriers, supporting fair trade agreements, and exploring new opportunities to ship products overseas; Improving and updating the North American Free Trade Agreement to the benefit of our state’s manufacturers, ranchers, and farmers. We now have decades of experience of what has not worked well in NAFTA, and need to use that experience to apply fixes to this agreement and all other future agreements that require strong labor, environmental, and health standards, and include provisions for enforcing them; Repealing White House “fast-track authority” in trade negotiations, which allows for backdoor deals without key labor and consumer interests at the table; Eliminating opportunities for Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions to undercut U.S. laws and standards. Opioids It’s this kind of knee-jerk, quick-fix reaction that got us in this mess in the first place. We thought we could cure all manners of pain – physical and mental – with a miracle drug that could wash it all away. We ended up with more than 64,000 deaths in 2016 alone and it’s getting worse. And the President seems to believe that the threat of the death penalty will magically make what has become a national health crisis disappear. Traveling the state as I run for Congress in the 8th District, I’ve had the opportunity to hear the concerns of thousands of our fellow citizens. Among all their worries – jobs, healthcare, the economy, education, the environment – perhaps none is more personal than opioid addiction. From the grandmother who’s now caring for her addicted daughter’s children, to the gentleman who’s watched his college roommate and lifelong friend’s life fall apart to the point of homelessness, the stories are many and heartbreaking. And as a doctor and a public health expert who has spent decades fighting disease the world over, from individual treatment to working with Congress to get things done, I can assure that there is no quick fix, no magic cure, no instant solution. But there are solutions. It starts with our treating this problem as an epidemic, rather than just calling it one. I know what it takes to reverse the course of epidemics to save lives – even epidemics of chronic diseases without a cure. I’ve worked as part of a broad community to turn the death sentence of HIV into a manageable chronic disease, to save lives, reduce stigma, and restore communities. It will take an equally ambitious comprehensive public health response to stop THIS epidemic and stabilize the families and communities that have been ravaged by it. Here is my plan: Build true access to treatment on demand. We must make treatment readily available when folks bring strength and resolution to the fight – and not test that strength further by making them wait. We can do this by using federal reimbursements to incentivize health care systems to purposefully expand access to treatment and provide medication-assisted therapy – something that is in short supply, and even less available in the more rural corners of Washington state. We must also better integrate these services with primary health services, as is being done right now at Confluence Health in Wenatchee. The hospital has put together an opioid epidemic response team filled with physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, trained and certified to be able to address and treat chronic opioid users as well as those dealing with acute pain, so that every patient has access to care. Keep people alive so they can actually get into treatment. You can’t help someone who is already gone. This requires widespread overdose prevention and response interventions and making overdose prevention medications, such as Narcan, available to patients, families of addicts, and first responders. I cannot stand to see one more tragedy – including the tragedy of someone in recovery who has “one bad day” and accidentally overdoses because they don’t realize that their “previous dose” will now kill them because their tolerance is lower. We also need to rethink our criminal justice system to include drug courts and other diversion programs that provide more effective, and less expensive, alternatives to jail and the endless cycle of repeat incarcerations. Turn off the faucet. We must start by preventing new addiction, whether it’s driven by pain control or self-treatment of mental health issues. In the case of addiction that starts by medical prescription for pain control, we need to ensure the proper training of providers, support non-burdensome prescription checks, educate patients, and hold drug companies accountable for identifying abusive prescribing patterns. For those who are self-medicating, we need to continue to work toward making mental health treatment parity a reality: full access and full coverage by insurance providers. Reduce stigma and recognize addiction for the chronic disease it is. This is an enormous problem and it’s one that we all contribute to. We see it in the pregnant women and mothers who are driven from treatment and recovery for fear of having their children taken away from them. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, whose providers are truly on the front lines, has been raising the alarm against stigma-driven punitive legislation for women with opioid use disorder and their babies, calling for supportive laws that allow social service providers to promote evidence-based solutions that will actually help families. We need to listen to these experts. Of course, this is just a beginning. A problem this enormous requires an enormous commitment. Our elected representatives must commit to tackling this epidemic with dollars and action, and be accountable for achieving the results that matter: stopping deaths and the destruction of families. Anything less is essentially signing the death warrant of thousands upon thousands of Americans each year and turning their backs on the very people they swore to serve. Diplomacy Since then, I’ve been privileged to travel around the world and work with dedicated professionals, activists, and community members to make their own communities safer and healthier. And I’ve done that more often than not by working with our diplomats, foreign service officers, and the Department of State (DOS). As a Commander in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, I was honored to be assigned to the DOS as the Senior Scientific Advisor for our global HIV program. I’ve also achieved results by partnering with Americans living overseas for mission or business work. I’ve seen how our “penny-on-a-dollar” investments in foreign assistance have not only saved lives, but have also built a warmth and appreciation for Americans and American values, fostered economic development that leads to bigger markets for American products, and stabilized political environments to reduce the pull of radicalism and the likelihood of more wars. I’ve had the privilege of working in Afghanistan to complement the work of our armed services in “winning hearts and minds” by helping people – working to expand family planning and child survival products and programs to the farthest reaches of the country. I’ve witnessed how “global is local” – that we are stronger, safer, smarter, and wealthier here at home when we are actively engaged in promoting America’s interests, values, and engagement overseas. And as your Congresswoman, these will be my priorities to support global diplomacy and American leadership: Keeping American families safe by opposing the current dismantling of the State Department and ensuring a robust corps of expert diplomats, as well as full and strong U.S. representation around the world to champion American values: democracy, economic growth, and protection of human rights – including those of women, those in the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities; Strengthening our homeland security and promoting peace through diplomacy and development to prevent war and de-escalate conflict – ensuring our military does not “need to buy more ammunition” and our troops are deployed only when absolutely necessary; Opposing isolationism in foreign policy, maintaining strong and predictable relationships with our allies – such as consistent support to NATO, and vigilantly addressing and responding to threats such as those posed by a nuclear North Korea, expansion of the regional influence of Iran, and Russian interference in our elections; Opening new avenues for trade and growing global markets in manufacturing, technology, and agriculture to the benefit of our region’s workers and businesses; Ensuring that the United States remains known as an active and enthusiastic proponent of the Paris Climate Agreement and opposing President Trump’s withdrawal from the pact, not only to emphasize the importance of the future health of our planet, but also to make sure that America is the leading voice in environmental progress and innovation; Addressing barriers encountered by Americans living or deployed overseas to ensure their needs are not overlooked in tax, voting, or other policies. Citizens United Simply put, that’s why I want to overturn Citizens United and why I will fight in Congress to do so. I fully support a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and believe this is the only way to restore accountability in our elections. There is absolutely no place in our politics for unlimited, undisclosed dark money. Only voters should decide elections and it must be in a fair and transparent system. The 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission threw the door wide open for the wealthiest individuals and special interests to pile unlimited – and untraceable – money into our elections. This decision was not only wrong-headed, but dangerous to our democracy. We must have accountability. We must have transparency. We cannot allow the unimaginably wealthy – the Koch brothers, the Adelsons, and others – to continue to wield political power that renders the individual nearly voiceless. Furthermore, we have to hold candidates of both parties accountable for the money they accept and where it comes from. You can tell a lot about a candidate when you follow the money, which is why I will never take contributions from the NRA, Tobacco, Big Pharma, or any other PAC that doesn’t align with our shared principles here in Washington state. Make no mistake, SuperPACs are already setting up shop in our local communities. The Great America Committee (Vice President Mike Pence), Eye of the Tiger PAC (Rep. Steve Scalise), and KochPAC (Koch brothers) have already pledged support for Dino Rossi in this race. What’s more, the Congressional Leadership Fund – Speaker Paul Ryan’s SuperPAC – has even gone as far as to set up an office in the 8th District. And we will never know who is funding these efforts – the real identity of funders will be shielded from the voters. This kind of extreme money distorts democracy. American citizens are entitled to “an equally effective voice” in our elections – “One person, one vote.” That vote cannot be drowned out by the waterfall of money coming from the enormously wealthy and well-connected. As your Congresswoman, I will support efforts to demand transparency in reporting. I will not treat money as ‘votes’. I will seek to put an end to the kind of campaign contributions that make a mockery of democracy. And I will work with representatives of both parties for a Constitutional amendment that will overturn and put an end to Citizens United. |
” |
| —Shannon Hader’s campaign website (2018)[4] | ||
January 17, 2018, candidate forum
When asked, "If elected, what would you do to bring economic improvement to the rural communities in your district?" the candidate said the following:
| “ |
I think three things: short-term, medium-term, and long-term that I’d like to see and help to do to improve economic opportunity here. Short term is the tax “plan” that just passed is catastrophic. We need to flip the house so that we can get in there and reverse some of the changes to restore and expand the kind of tax credits that we know help our lower income and working class families. Second, medium term, this is all about growth and economic growth with industries and I totally agree that having a university here in Ellensburg helps that a lot. So what are the new biotech, agrobio, agritech and green energy jobs that this can be a center for expanding? And I think long term, we don’t have a long-term future unless we are investing in education.[3] |
” |
| —Shannon Hader (2018)[5] | ||
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Washington's 8th Congressional District election, 2018
- Washington's 8th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2018 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 31, 2018
- ↑ Shannon Hader for Congress, "About Shannon," accessed May 15, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Shannon Hader for Congress, “Issues,” accessed June 20, 2018
- ↑ Daily Record News, “Candidates address community concerns at district forum,” accessed January 17, 2018
