Joe Pakootas

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Joe Pakootas

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2016

Contact

Personal website

Joe Pakootas was a 2016 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 5th Congressional District of Washington.

Elections

2016

See also: Washington's 5th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) defeated Joe Pakootas (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Rodgers and Pakootas defeated Tom Horne (R), Krystol McGee (L), and Dave Wilson (I) in the top-two primary on August 2, 2016.

U.S. House, Washington District 5 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cathy McMorris Rodgers Incumbent	59.6%	192,959
	Democratic	Joe Pakootas	40.4%	130,575
Total Votes				323,534
Source: Washington Secretary of State

U.S. House, Washington District 5 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cathy McMorris Rodgers Incumbent	42.2%	60,184
	Democratic	Joe Pakootas	31.5%	44,999
	Independent	Dave Wilson	13.3%	18,993
	Republican	Tom Horne	11.1%	15,830
	Libertarian	Krystol McGee	1.9%	2,678
Total Votes				142,684
Source: Washington Secretary of State

2014

See also: Washington's 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

Pakootas ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Washington's 5th District. Incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) and Pakootas were the top two vote-getters in the blanket primary. Joe Pakootas lost the general election on November 4, 2014.

Election results

General election

U.S. House, Washington District 5 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cathy McMorris Rodgers Incumbent	60.7%	135,470
	Democratic	Joseph Pakootas	39.3%	87,772
Total Votes				223,242
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Blanket primary

U.S. House, Washington District 5, Blanket Primary, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cathy McMorris Rodgers Incumbent	51.6%	59,173
	Democratic	Joseph Pakootas	29%	33,302
	Independent	Dave Wilson	11.3%	12,984
	Republican	Tom Horne	8.1%	9,328
Total Votes				114,787
Source: Results via Associated Press

Campaign themes

2016

The following issues were listed on Pakootas' campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Campaign Finance Reform: Corporations are not people. Money is not speech. But with the obscene Citizens United Supreme Court decision, those two statements have unfortunately become false. This ruling has dictated that money can buy power in government, a danger our founding fathers warned against. Climate Change and the Environment: The verdict is in, climate change is proven and it is real. The continued burning of fossil fuels represents a catastrophic risk to all of humanity. In a world with rising temperatures, farmers in our District will find it harder to grow their world-renowned wheat because of persistent drought. Vulnerable populations will suffer during summers with extreme heat waves, and we will continue to experience massive forest fires similar to the summer of 2015. Our world is experiencing and can continue to expect more drastic storms, detrimental ocean acidification, sweeping deforestation, and sea-level rise. Common Sense Gun Policies: Joe Pakootas is a gun owner, has taught each of his 6 grandchildren how to hunt, and believes that our country can find the right balance between honoring individual rights and ensuring the safety of our communities. Unfortunately, Congress has not taken responsibility to ensure that everyday Americans do not have access to dangerous weapons. Criminal Justice Reform: Since the 1980’s, millions of lives have been destroyed because of jail sentences for nonviolent crimes. From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people. Nixon’s “War on Drugs” instituted racially-biased mandatory minimums and flooded prisons with a majority of minorities. Education: Equal access to education is the cornerstone of success in the 21st century. In a world of rising college tuition costs and student debt, Joe Pakootas believes in comprehensive higher education reform, including legislation that would increase funding for higher education, allow students to refinance their student loans and make it more accessible to those who need it most.	”
—Joe Pakootas' campaign website, http://www.pakootasforcongress.com/issues/

Campaign finance summary

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See also

• United States House of Representatives
• Washington's 5th Congressional District election, 2016
• Washington's 5th Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• Facebook page
• Twitter feed

Footnotes

[show]

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)