Shannon Hader has worked in the federal government for years, including about nine months serving as a senior leader at the Center for Disease Control under the Trump administration. It was that experience, she says, that spurred her to run for Congress.

Hader told Seattle’s Morning News that she’s a “fifth-generation Auburn-Kent-Tukwila valley girl, born and raised in Auburn, so this is highly, highly personal to me. This is my friends, my family, and our district. I’ve been disappointed by the fact we have so many divisions going on, so much divisiveness, and in the meantime, our type of district with small to medium, to teeny-tiny little towns are overlooked by one-size-fits-all politics.”

“Everything that is happening at a national level on issues I care about – health care, taxes, and wages for the middle class, environmental protections – are going backward at a rate I would not have imagined or predicted,” she added.

Hader is a candidate for Washington’s 8th Congressional District. Longtime Congressmember Dave Reichert is exiting the position after this term. Hader, a doctor and health care official, is running as a Democrat and will likely face Republican Dino Rossi for the job. Rossi should be familiar to Washington voters as a former state senator and gubernatorial candidate.

RELATED: Rossi doesn’t mind being Sound Transit’s public enemy No. 1



“I am the only candidate in this race who brings this proven track record of delivering results that matter to communities with federal people, policies, and dollars,” Hader said. “I have proof points behind that, which can hopefully give people confidence that I will deliver for them, too.”

“Dino Rossi does not bring those proof points,” she said. “He brings some smooth talking points and I don’t think those are going to be enough.”

Shannon Hader and two issues

Rossi is promoting his aim to address issues from supporting seniors and veterans, to health care and government reform, even stopping school violence. Hader speaks to similar points, but says she has spent months going door-to-door, from community meetings to retirement homes, listening to what voters want action on.

Hader says that she wants to make sure “folks who are frustrated with lack of action, lack of results know that I am the person to deliver.”

“We know and have learned that one of the best antidotes to misinformation or smear campaigns in the big media is not corrected information, it’s having had someone meet you and talk to you or meet someone who has met you,” she said.

Infrastructure

The candidate says that one primary avenue of communication has been with the district’s mayors. And their No. 1 issue seems to be infrastructure.

“The mayors are really the front line of the day-to-day challenges of their constituency,” Hader said. “And nearly every mayor I’ve talked to, the number one issue they bring up is infrastructure. Whether it’s moving people or products up-and-down, or back-and-forth across the mountains – that is a key need. I’m am all for a federal infrastructure bill that includes more federal investments in our ability to support the modernization of our infrastructure.”

President Trump has stated he, too, is in favor of modernizing infrastructure. But Hader argues that there is a difference between agreeing on an issue and agreeing on a solution. Trump has been supportive of an infrastructure bill, but most money was slated to come from the states, not the federal government. That plan trickles down and strains small communities, Hader said.

“This is one of these issues that is actually a purple issue, it’s not just a Democratic issue,” Hader said. “Certainly, Republicans want more and better transit for our products that get products from east to west, out to our ports for export.”

Affordable Care Act

A second issue that consistently comes up — perhaps because Hader is a candidate who is also a doctor — is health care and the future of the Affordable Care Act. She says constituents are increasingly growing insecure over effects to their healthcare access.

Specifically, Hader points to the elimination of the individual mandate as an important point. She says it is anticipated to drive premiums higher. Another issue is an “attack” on pre-existing conditions, she says, that has many people nervous. Both parts of the Affordable Care Act need protecting.

“Because a lot of us remember the times when pre-existing condition were not covered,” she said.