DelBene facing local challengers

Two Sky Valley residents are running against Suzan DelBene and two other contenders for Washington’s 1st Congressional District position in the upcoming primary election. Adam Pilskog, an educator and contributing Monitor movie critic, and Sultan City Councilmember Jeffrey Beeler hope to unseat the incumbent. Both men say they want to see shifts in how politics function at the federal level.

DelBene, a Democrat, is finishing up her third term this year. Pilskog, 40, is running unaffiliated, as is retired Redmond man Robert Mair, 64. Beeler, 49, has filed with the Republican Party, along with attorney Scott Stafne, 69, of Arlington.

Voters will choose two candidates to proceed to the general election during the Aug. 7 primary. Whoever takes the Nov. 6 general election will represent nearly 775,000 constituents, including a mix of urban and rural communities.

Adam Pilskog

The Monroe man said he is purposefully taking a passive approach to running for Congress. Pilskog is not actively seeking donations, other than reaching out on social media to cover the $1,700 filing fee, nor spending much of his own money on the “barebones campaign, with very little marketing.”

He is instead relying on word of mouth, interviews and being invited to public debates. Pilskog’s hope is that the public will take time to read the voters pamphlet or reach out to him for more information and ask about his stance on the issues.

“I think I could do a lot of good if given the chance,” he said.

Pilskog said he chose the method because of disenchantment with the current system; people running for office must have a lot of campaign funding.

Pilskog has been an educator for a decade, and has taught in public elementary and middle schools throughout the region. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a master’s degree in business and a K-8 teaching certification.

He grew up in Seattle, and met his wife during their first day of teaching orientation. Until they got together, he hadn’t planned on having children. The couple is now raising a son in Monroe.

“If I am going to have a kid, I want to do it right,” he remembers thinking. “I want to raise someone I can devote a massive amount of attention to.”

Pilskog said their son is the center of his family. Most decisions are made based on what is best for him. His students have proven to be another driving force in his life.

“I have always loved kids, and one of the things I have loved about teaching is that it makes me feel young every day,” he said.

While Pilskog doesn’t have experience in public office, he said he has other qualifications that make him suitable to represent the 1st District. He considers himself a person others can relate to as well as someone who can relate to other people.

Pilskog believes that understanding of the general population makes him a strong candidate for the position. He isn’t removed from the people he would represent.

“I want to do something bigger with my life that will kind of shine a light on what is possible for a lot of other people,” he said. “I try to lead by example.”

At the top of Pilskog’s list if elected is to work on issues like congressional reform, such as establishing term limits. Being a teacher, he said he supports more funding for education and expanding the health care system.

“I am an open book, and I encourage people to reach out and contact me if they want to learn any more about where I stand on any particular issue,” he said.

Jeffrey Beeler

The Sultan man said he chose to run this year largely because Snohomish County Councilmember Sam Low came and asked him to. Early on it looked like no one was going to put their name on the Republican ticket.

“ ‘We think you would do a great job, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think you could do it,’ ” Beeler recalls Low telling him.

Low encouraged Beeler and said he was confident he would be a good fit. Congress was always a goal he had in the back of his mind. With support from his wife, Marni, he decided to give it a shot.

The couple has been in Sultan since 2000. They met in high school, and dated for three years before getting married. They raised their three children, each of whom Marni homeschooled, while Beeler ran his business.

Beeler started Jeffrey’s Glass Cleaning Service shortly after graduating high school. He began window cleaning with his uncle, then found it was a good fit. The profession suits him because he gets to work closely with people, he said.

Up until 2007, Beeler said he didn’t pursue other commitments outside work. That was the first year he joined the Citizens Advisory Council, which was formed to address some of the concerns the community had of how the city’s leadership made decisions.

Beeler was first appointed to fill an open seat on the Sultan City Council in 2009. He said one of his proudest accomplishments was his involvement in bringing balance to the city’s budget.

Finances were stretched during the Great Recession, and weren’t headed in the right direction, said Beeler. He and his peers were able to maintain all programs, no one was fired and they helped secure a AA-bond credit rating, the highest for a city of its size, he said.

Later, Beeler was elected by Snohomish County cities to serve on the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board from 2014-15, and is now an alternate. He was elected to serve on the Snohomish County Law Enforcement Officers & Fire Fighters 1 Board to represent small jurisdictions in 2016, and is the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition treasurer.

“I have always had a desire to be active in my community to make where I live a better place,” he writes on his campaign website. “This is where my family lives and I’ve always felt if you are going to complain you had better be willing to step up and help make the decisions that will make a difference.”

Beeler said big issues he hopes to address if elected are the country’s budget, the debt of which has been ballooning for years. He also wants to work on scaling back health care coverage, which he said has negatively affected him as a small-business owner.

Families Beeler has spoken with while campaigning have told him stories about their new plans ruining them financially, he said, once someone gets a significant diagnosis, such as cancer.

In the long-term Beeler plans to pursue a seat in Congress, whether or not he wins this round. He said he intends to remain open with his constituents, and always act as their representative.

“My goal is to never become one of those politicians that is just party oriented,” he said.