Andrew Bartleson is a candidate for Washington’s 5th Congressional District and currently works as an auditor for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. A self-described “regular working person,” Bartleson says his decision to run was driven by concerns about affordability, healthcare, economic opportunity, and the future facing younger generations, including his 19-year-old daughter, who will be voting in her first election this year. In this conversation, he shares his perspectives on civic engagement, the challenges facing working families, healthcare reform, and the importance of helping young people become active participants in democracy.
Q: What is your profession?
Bartleson: I work for the Department of Labor and Industries. I am an auditor. I look at business records and make sure businesses are reporting their workers for workers’ compensation purposes. I have done this work for 11 years as of June 1.
Q: What office are you running for, and why?
Bartleson: I am running for Washington’s 5th Congressional District. I was not a fan of Baumgartner, and I was not a fan of Cathy McMorris Rodgers either.
A big reason is my daughter. She just turned 19, and this will be the first election she gets to vote in. We are very close, and throughout my adult life, especially over the last 25 years, it feels like we take two steps forward and two steps back, if we are lucky. Things never really seem to progress positively for us.
With young people, it is rough. I feel a responsibility for our generation to clean up as much of this mess as we can and not just dump it all on them.
Q: What would you bring to the office?
Bartleson: First, relatability. I am just a regular person. I work for the state. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck. One of the big issues is health care. Everybody talks about universal health care, and that is a priority, but I want to take it a step further.
It should be one total health care plan that covers everything: mental health, physical health, dental care, eye care, and hearing. Right now, people have separate policies, and dental care does not even count toward your deductible. If you need a root canal or braces, that can be thousands of dollars out of pocket. That is crazy.
Q: How do you view the struggles facing working people and the middle class?
Bartleson: One of the causes of wage stagnation is employer-sponsored health care. If insurance premiums go up, employers are putting money there instead of wages. We need to look at what benefits all of us.
When someone else gets a win, we tend to see it as our loss. But your win does not mean my loss. If people need housing, food, education, or health care, helping them benefits society.
Q: Why is voter engagement important, especially for young voters?
Bartleson: Young people have access to so much information, but they need help learning how to verify sources and understand what is real. The internet gives us the world’s knowledge, but it is also used for manipulation and propaganda.
I think young people want a better world. They are tolerant, caring, and concerned. They just need people to show them how to get things done.
Q: Why is civic engagement crucial right now?
Bartleson: We have to understand each other and love each other. Love takes time and sustained effort. We have been conditioned to see each other as threats or competition, but people are people.
We all benefit each other. We are all in this together.