But it was taking away something so fundamental to life as health insurance that prompted Brown to get into this race. It seemed like a lost cause; McMorris Rodgers has never received less than 56 percent of the vote in seven general elections. But on Tuesday’s primary — basically an open poll, with the top two finishers going to the runoff, no matter the party — Brown held the incumbent to a near dead heat, both getting just below 50 percent of the vote. She may still top her with late returns.

McMorris Rodgers is the woman that Republicans trot out when they want to put a female face on policies that hurt women. A mother of three, outwardly pious, who has drawn a government paycheck for most of her adult life, she seems harmless and friendly.

But rather than be a check on Trump, which most voters want, she is one of his highest-profile enablers. She votes with Trump nearly 98 percent of the time. Of course she said Trump’s boasting of committing sexual assault in the Access Hollywood tape was not “appropriate,” but that hasn’t kept her from being a Trump apologist.

This week an audio tape emerged of Representative Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, at a fund-raiser for McMorris Rodgers in Spokane last month. Throwing out any pretense of oversight, he told donors that Republicans in the House need to protect Trump from the special counsel.

In this case, what happens in Spokane may stay in Spokane and hurt McMorris Rodgers. The culture of corruption around this president — his sleazy campaign manager on trial, three former Cabinet secretaries forced to resign in disgrace, all the grifting — have left many people saying, enough.

Lisa Brown took a stand for working mothers back in 1993, when she brought her infant son to the floor of the Washington State Legislature for a late-night vote. She was told to remove the child. She protested; her day care was closed, and she had no choice.

She went on to become the first female majority leader of the State Senate. After that, she served as a chancellor of Washington State University in Spokane. A seasoned pol, she will need to call on all her political muscle memory to win this race.

For a quarter-century, Republicans have been winning in places like Spokane because of culture and resentment. The old way to scare people was through the three Gs — gays, guns and God. Of late, they’ve whipped up resentment against “elites.” This year, those words may have no more power than a summer wind.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter (@nytegan).

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