Dems vying for Reichert’s seat: united on abortion, divided on Rossi strategy

June 07--When it comes to abortion rights, there isn't a lot of daylight to be glimpsed between the policy positions of top Democrats competing to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert in Washington's 8th Congressional District.

All three Democratic contenders -- Kim Schrier, Jason Rittereiser and Shannon Hader -- spent Wednesday morning at a candidate forum in Issaquah pledging to fight abortion restrictions pushed by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans.

They opposed parental-consent laws on abortion and efforts to allow pharmacists and other providers to withhold services because of religious objections, and said they'd work to expand access to abortion and reproductive health care.

The only real clashes centered on which Democrat has the best resume to match up against the presumptive Republican nominee, former state Sen. Dino Rossi.

Although Rossi has lost three statewide races, he is running this year in a district where he's had majority support and faces only little-known GOP primary rivals. The Democrats, by contrast, are locked in a competitive three-way race to see which one can get past the Aug. 7 primary.

At Wednesday's forum, moderated by NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue, the Democratic rivals took subtle jabs at one another while ripping Rossi's anti-abortion positions. The presence of national abortion-rights advocates marked the importance of the 8th District contest, considered a key race in the efforts by Democrats to flip at least 23 seats to take a U.S. House majority.

Schrier and Hader, both physicians by training, pointed out there are no female doctors in Congress. They said a doctor and woman supportive of abortion rights could provide a powerful contrast to Rossi, who has opposed abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

"Dino Rossi has lost to women three times in good part because of the issue of choice and his anti-choice stance," said Schrier, referring to Rossi's losses to Chris Gregoire in the 2004 and 2008 gubernatorial races, and to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in 2010.

A pediatrician for 17 years at a Virginia Mason clinic in Issaquah, Schrier said she talks with girls as young as 12 or 13 about reproductive choices, describing her practice as "a safe space." She said she regularly dismisses parents from the exam room to talk with teens alone about birth control options.

Schrier said that has given her an up-close view of the difficult choices women have to make when it comes to pregnancy. She said she's been alarmed by attacks on abortion rights and even contraception access by conservatives.

"There is frankly no place for government or for someone else's religion in my exam room or any exam room anywhere in this country," she said.

Hader, a former director of global HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who grew up in Auburn, pointed to her experience managing a budget of more than $2 billion and getting results, including a big reduction in the number of babies born with HIV.

That experience around the world also has shown her what happens in places that outlaw abortion and where women cannot get adequate medical care. "I have seen horrible things," she said, including patients "insides rotting" because of a lack of care. She called Rossi "a smooth talker" and said she'd combat him with "proof points over talking points."

Hader said her biography would bring a perspective lacking on Capitol Hill. "You know, there are a lot of men on the hill. There are a lot of lawyers on the hill. There are fewer women. There are fewer doctors," she said.

Rittereiser, who is both a man and a lawyer, said that with few policy differences, the important factor in the race among Democrats is "who can beat Dino Rossi."

He touted a recently leaked independent poll for a Democratic political-action committee that suggests he'd stand the best chance due to an ability to pick up independent voters in the more rural parts of the district. Rittereiser grew up in Ellensburg, where his mom was an elected official, and frequently mentions his time baling hay to pay for college.

A former deputy prosecutor turned employment-law attorney, Rittereiser highlighted a case in which he represented a former professor who sued Northwest Christian University in Oregon for allegedly firing her because she was pregnant while unmarried. A judge ruled she had been discriminated against based on marital status and the lawsuit was later settled.

"That is exactly how I fashioned my legal career ... in order to protect people who would otherwise be affected by bad policy and bad law," Rittereiser said.

With Wednesday falling on his 34th birthday, Rittereiser said he also could appeal to younger voters in the 8th District, and that he'd be only the seventh millennial in Congress.

Schrier, 49, ribbed Rittereiser's youth when she talked about "waving a hanger" during a 1987 abortion-rights protest against the nomination of Robert Bork for the U.S. Supreme Court. She turned to him and asked "were you born then?"

Rittereiser, who would have been around 3 years old at that time, didn't answer.

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