Smith vs. Smith: Two Democrats Clash in 9th Congressional District Forum

Going into the November general election, 22-year Democratic incumbent Rep. Adam Smith of Washington’s 9th Congressional District — which spans from Bellevue and south Seattle down through Renton, Tukwila, Kent, Federal Way and Tacoma — is facing a challenge from the contemporary left: Sarah Smith, a 30-year-old self-described Democratic socialist.

And at a debate forum hosted Sept. 19 by the Federal Way Mirror at Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club, the two candidates made their pitch to voters on why they were best suited for the job.

Republican Doug Basler also ran in the Aug. 7 primary election, but he was eventually edged out by Sarah Smith by more than 3,000 votes, putting her in second place with 26 percent of the vote and advancing her to the general election. Rep. Smith, meanwhile, took the lion’s share of the district, with just under 50 percent of the vote in the August primary.

Sarah Smith, a former volunteer for the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, has backing from left-leaning organizations like the Seattle chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Washington State Progressive Caucus — as well as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another under-30 Democratic socialist who bested a longtime Democratic incumbent congressman in New York City earlier this year. Sarah Smith has run on a platform consisting of a wealth of progressive policy planks: a $15-per-hour federal minimum wage, abolishing the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and universal medicare.

Read more: https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/smith-vs-smith-two-democrats-clash-in-9th-congressional-district-forum/