Jason Call Is Running For Congress In Washington's 2nd Congressional District
Jason Call is a progressive challenger seeking to oust incumbent establishmentarian Democrat Rick Larsen in Washington's 2nd congressional district. Call is an advocate of Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, a $20/hr minimum wage, tuition-free public college, and a myriad of other progressive policy positions. I spoke with Call about some of the issues important to voters, and how to bring about progressive change...
Considering the eerie silence among elected officials of all political stripes in Congress on the issue of Julian Assange, and the challenges that his extradition to the US poses to the freedom of the press, I felt it imperative to begin by asking if Assange should be seen as a hero, or a troublemaker. Call said he was thankful for Wikileaks' exposure of war crimes, that Assange should not have been forced to spend the last decade in exile, and that he believes that he is a hero for his actions. Call also believes that Assange is a troublemaker, and that "...causing trouble for the war machine is something we should all aspire to. He’s a whistleblower in my book. The espionage charges are bullshit and designed to instill fear."
Against the backdrop of the recent push for progressive members of Congress to withhold their votes for Nancy Pelosi as speaker on the condition that she bring Medicare For All up for a vote (a move that Call has endorsed on social media), I asked how we are to affect change on the issue, and if the American people should have to wait until each and every member of Congress is voted out before progress is made on the issue (which could take years). Call said he is working with a Washington state group called "Whole Washington" to get Medicare For All passed as a ballot initiative in his state, and hopes that other states will follow suit, until the federal government codifies it; Otherwise, he said, "we are going to have to replace opponents as best we can, so we’re trying to educate the public and use the issue as leverage to flip those seats." He also exposed Rick Larsen (the incumbent) for his lack of support for Medicare For All, in favor of a "public option", a policy position that Call's website states was "purchased to the tune of $146,000" from 17 healthcare companies.
With regard to members of the Democratic Party who refuse to support the legislation, he ties their policy positions on the matter to the corporate interests which line their pockets, and brings up the issue of big money in the electoral process. He stated that "They run on platitudes but have no intention of actually fighting for progressive policy". He says "I don’t see Larsen ever changing his position. He’s not working for the public, he’s working for industry."
With regard to members of the Democratic Party who refuse to support the legislation, he ties their policy positions on the matter to the corporate interests which line their pockets, and brings up the issue of big money in the electoral process. He stated that "They run on platitudes but have no intention of actually fighting for progressive policy". He says "I don’t see Larsen ever changing his position. He’s not working for the public, he’s working for industry."
Call, who describes himself as a "Democratic Socialist" on his Twitter bio, endorses a number of protections for workers, including the right to organize, collective bargaining, and a jobs guarantee; I asked if he would support Sen. Bernie Sanders' proposition to require that large corporations include a percentage of workers on their boards. "Yes, absolutely", he said. "I’m supportive of what Germany does, called codetermination."
A page on his website dedicated to criminal justice reform details support for "10 Demands for Justice", which includes calls to defund & demilitarize the police, end the war on drugs, and end carceral punishment. I asked if he specifically supported the Black Lives Matter movement, to which he replied "I absolutely support the Black Lives Matter movement...", stating that he has participated in multiple Black Lives Matter protests in his state, and helped contribute to the aforementioned "10 Demands for Justice" which he proudly endorses.
As an ally of the LGBTQ community, Call supports the Equal Rights amendment, a ban on conversion therapy, and an end to misgendered imprisonment, which his platform identifies as "a cruel and unusual punishment, and must end immediately nationwide". He calls for the inclusion of LGBTQ curricula in public schools, and counselling specific to the community.
Another issue that he ties directly to the problem of money in politics is homelessness, pointing out that the homeless are one of the easiest demographics to ignore, as they generally do not vote or contribute to political campaigns. Call is an advocate of "Guaranteed Housing for All". When asked how such an idea could even begin to gain momentum in Congress, he admitted that was "a tough one", but pointed out that prior to the Reagan administration, there was an exponentially larger budget for housing assistance programs, and advocated for increasing supportive housing funding, and redirecting funds to build more units. He also points out that "The current Congress is bent on austerity economics, so the harsh reality is don’t expect movement here until the makeup of Congress changes".
Meanwhile, the incumbent, Rick Larsen, a long-standing member of the Armed Services Committee, and a recipient of donations from the military industrial complex; According to The Center For Responsive Politics, his top campaign contributor for the most recent (2019-2020) campaign cycle is "Raytheon Technologies", and has received a whopping 68.2% of his funding from Political Action Committees (PACs), and another 25.3% from "large individual contributions" (donations over $200). These contributors include George Soros' Berkshire Hathaway ($17,500), Northrop Grumman ($17,500), Amazon ($17,080), Raytheon Technologies ($14,500), Lockheed Martin ($12,500), and a plethora of other less-than-stellar corporations and industries, including from the energy and healthcare sectors.
In 2016, after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won WA-02 in a landslide during his bid for the Democratic nomination for President (with over 70% of the popular vote in the district), Larsen faced backlash from the voters in Washington when he disregarded his constituency, and voted for Sec. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary.
Despite being an establishment candidate in a progressive district with a not-so-honorable report card and a list of dubious campaign contributors, Rick Larsen won re-election in Washington's 2nd congressional district with over 63% of the vote. Jason Call, who came in 3rd place among 8 candidates, has not stopped to go back to brunch. Call has announced his intentions to run again in 2022 - giving him a solid 2 years to mount a successful challenge, and build the grassroots coalitions he will need to reach out to voters and gain momentum into the next election cycle.