United States Representative, District 1 2-year term
Suzan DelBene
(Prefers Democratic Party)
Elected Experience: United States Representative, 2012-Current.
Other Professional Experience: Successful career as businesswoman and entrepreneur. Former Microsoft executive, led local high-tech startups. Former Director of Washington’s Department of Revenue, where I led efforts to simplify the tax system and help small businesses.
Education: B.A., Reed College; M.B.A., University of Washington.
Community Service: I’ve mentored students at UW Business School, been active in my church, serving as a board member. Volunteered with the PTA, Girl Scouts and YWCA, supporting transitional housing, job training and services to help families get back on their feet.
Statement: Growing up, my dad lost his job and our family struggled. But thanks to financial aid, student loans and hard work, I was able to attend college and build a successful career as a businesswoman and entrepreneur.
Today, too many middle-class families are suffering from the same financial instability my family felt. This is why I’m fighting to give everyone the opportunity to succeed.
Results, not rhetoric. In a dysfunctional, hyperpartisan Congress I’ve worked across party lines to get things done – helping write the Farm Bill to ensure it benefits Washington farmers while reducing the deficit; successfully fighting to roll back the doubling of student loan interest rates; and passing legislation to expand job-training and education programs for food stamp recipients to learn skills and become self-sufficient. When a portion of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed last year, I worked to quickly secure emergency funds to rebuild it.
Expanding Economic Opportunity. I’m fighting to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, extend unemployment insurance to help those looking for work, and I cosponsored legislation to help Main Street businesses compete with out-of-state retailers. I’m working to increase our investments in schools, roads, student aid and job creating research.
Standing up for our shared values. I’m fighting to protect Social Security, Medicare and a woman’s right to choose. To protect our privacy, I cosponsored a bill limiting government surveillance programs and ending the bulk collection of our private data. I support reforming our tax system to make it simpler and fairer. To fix our broken immigration system, I sponsored common-sense legislation that will create American jobs, cut the deficit and provide an earned path to citizenship.
Working together, we can build an economy that works for everyone, creates jobs and expands opportunity.
Contact: (425) 483-1500; ; www.delbeneforcongress.com
Pedro Celis
(Prefers Republican Party)
Elected Experience: None
Other Professional Experience: Former Microsoft Distinguished Engineer, Chief Technical Officer of SQL Division, Former Professor of Computer Science.
Education: BS, Computer Engineering, ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies), Monterrey, Mexico; MS (Mathematics) and PhD (Computer Science), University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Community Service: Founder/Board Member of Plaza Bank; U.S. President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), 2003-2005; Board Member of Stronger Families, a nonprofit organization advocating a healthy environment for marital and family life; Board Member, Washington News Council; Board Member, Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Member, Board of Regents, ITESM, his alma mater.
Statement: I am running for Congress because I have lived the American Dream, and I want to preserve it for future generations. Raised in a family of 6 by a single mom, I left Mexico as an adult with one bag of clothes and a box of books.
I came legally to the United States, I followed the rules, and became a naturalized citizen in 1993. I am an American by choice, and retired as a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer in 2012. Today, I see the American Dream under threat. Opportunity is diminishing and the American Dream is fading. Climbing the economic ladder has become harder, and our personal freedoms are threatened.
Government is part of the problem.
I will work to protect our freedoms, to encourage innovation and to promote economic growth. It is vital that we balance our budget to pave the way for a new prosperity and a rising American middle class. We must also remove obstacles that are keeping our economy locked in place…the senseless regulations, the crushing weight of new mandates.
We must replace Obamacare with a health care system that promotes personal choice and protects patients’ rights, while helping the most vulnerable among us. There is a better way. We need leaders who have tackled hard, complicated problems and found solutions, leaders who can work with people of diverse views, who have compassion, who have touched hard times, and who know how to help others rise and succeed.
I will put my experience to work, helping to redirect Congress, and to fix what’s not working in the other Washington. I will vote, consistently, to promote opportunity, protect individual liberty, and get our nation’s finances under control. If you agree with those priorities, I ask you to Vote for Pedro.
Contact: (425) 212-1043; ; www.pedroforcongress.com