Wikipedia

Michael Baumgartner

Michael James Baumgartner (/ˈbɒ̃ʊmɡɒ̃rtnər/, born December 13, 1975)[1] is an American politician and diplomat serving as the 28th Spokane County Treasurer. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 6th district from 2011 to 2019 and was his party's nominee in the 2012 election for the United States Senate, unsuccessfully challenging Democratic incumbent Maria Cantwell.

Michael Baumgartner
Official portrait, 2013
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 5th district
Assuming office
January 3, 2025
SucceedingCathy McMorris Rodgers
28th Treasurer of Spokane County
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Preceded byRob Chase
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
Preceded byChris Marr
Succeeded byJeff Holy
Personal details
Born
Michael James Baumgartner

(1975-12-13) December 13, 1975 (age 48)
Pullman, Washington, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEleanor Mayne (m. 2010)
Children5
EducationWashington State University (BA)
Harvard University (MPA)
Signature
WebsiteCampaign website

On February 26, 2024, Baumgartner announced his intention to run for the United States House of Representatives' in Washington's 5th congressional district to succeed Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, who is not seeking reelection.[2] On August 6, 2024, Baumgartner won the primary election, placing first.[3]

Early life, education, and career

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State Senator Michael Baumgartner, with his son, Conrad.

Baumgartner was born in Pullman. His mother is a kindergarten teacher and his father was a professor of Forestry and Natural Resource Sciences. After graduating from Pullman High School, he earned a scholarship to attend Washington State University. There, he was awarded a Thomas Foley scholarship, and was named a Stephenson scholar, an award given to the top graduates from the Honors College. He graduated in 1999 with a degree in economics with minors in French and mathematics. In 2002, he earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.

After graduating from Harvard, Baumgartner, a Catholic, volunteered on a Gonzaga Jesuit mission to Mozambique and studied forests in Siberia.

During the Iraq War, he served as the economics officer in the Office of Joint Strategic Planning & Assessment (JSPA) at the United States Embassy in Baghdad, helping the Iraqi government as part of the Baghdad Security Plan, receiving accolades from then General David Petraeus as well as Ambassador Ryan Crocker.[4] In 2008, he spent 7 months working as a civilian contractor in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. That same year, Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen referred to Baumgartner as an "Architect of Hope" in Iraq.[5][6]

After leaving Iraq, Baumgartner worked as a civilian contractor in Helmand Province, Afganistan, where encouraged poppy farmers to grow food instead, in an effort to combat the opioid epidemic. He would meet his wife Eleanor Mayne, a journalist studying counternarcotics in Helmand Province, and the two were married in 2010.[7]

Washington State Senate

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State Senator Baumgartner and former General David Petraeus, August 28, 2009

Baumgartner represented parts of the City of Spokane, Airway Heights, and Cheney including Eastern Washington University. (map)

Elections

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In 2010, Baumgartner returned to Eastern Washington and was planning a trip with his future wife Eleanor “to see if we actually like each other," when he approached by Cathy McMorris Rodgers' Chief of Staff and future Spokane Mayor David Condon, who recruited him to run against incumbent Democrat State Senator and Majority Whip Chris Marr for the Washington State Senate 6th Legislative District seat.[7] On August 17, 2010, in the state primary election, Baumgartner defeated Marr with 53% of the vote.[8] In the November election, he officially defeated Marr with 54% of the vote.[9] The election battle between Marr and Baumgartner is considered the most hotly contested and expensive state legislative races in Washington state history.[7]

Washington State Senate election from the 6th District, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Baumgartner 33,929 54
Democratic Chris Marr (Incumbent) 29,237 46

In 2014, Baumgartner ran for re-election to the State Senate, easily winning.

Washington State Senate election from the 6th District, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Baumgartner 28,309 57.5
Democratic Rich Cowan 20,949 42.7

Tenure

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During his tenure as Washington State Senator, Baumgartner has sponsored keynote legislation such as an amendment to the Washington State Senate to rise Higher Education to the State's #2 focus, reorganizing and streamlining central service functions, powers, and duties of the State Government, and reforming the rule-making process for State Economic Policy (the latter two receiving 47–0 votes in the State Senate).[10]

In 2012 Baumgartner was named one of the National Federation of Independent Business's Guardians of Business, the highest award they offer, in recognition of his votes that side "100 Percent" with small businesses.[11] The Association of Washington Business has awarded him their 'Cornerstone Award' also, in recognition of his support for employers, economic development, and business-related issues in the Washington State Legislature.[12]

In 2015, Baumgartner was awarded the "Legislator of The Year" award by anti-tax activist Tim Eyman due to his consistent effort to fight tax increases proposed in the state legislature.[13]

During the 2016 presidential election primaries, Baumgartner chaired Scott Walker's campaign for president in the state of Washington.[14]

Committee assignments

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In 2011 and 2012, Baumgartner was the ranking minority member of the Economic Development Trade & Innovation Committee, served on the Ways & Means Committee, and the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee.[15]

In 2013, two Democrats joined with the 23 Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus.[16] With the new coalition, Baumgartner was named Vice-Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and was also assigned to the Senate Trade and Economic Development Committee, the Higher Education Committee, and the Human Services and Corrections Committee.[17]

2012 U.S. Senate election

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Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Washington

In October 2011, Baumgartner decided to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Cantwell was running for her third term.[18] Washington uses a "top-two" nonpartisan blanket primary system, in which the top two candidates of any party in the primary election advance to the general election. Cantwell and Baumgartner finished first and second, respectively, and competed in the general election.

Baumgartner has formally endorsed Washington Initiative 502 to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for adults 21 and over, making him the first and only candidate for statewide office in Washington state to do so, and taking a position that wasn't popular in his party.[19][20]

In the November general election, Cantwell defeated Baumgartner. Cantwell received over 60% of the vote, to Baumgarter's 40%.

Spokane County Treasurer

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In 2018, Baumgartner opted not to run for reelection to the State Senate. Instead, he chose to run for Spokane County Treasurer. He won the November election and took office in January 2019.[21] He was unopposed for reelection in 2022.

Elections

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Spokane County Treasurer election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Baumgartner 126,421 57.5
Democratic David Green 93,516 42.5

In 2022, Baumgartner ran for re-election and won unopposed.[22]

Spokane County Treasurer election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Baumgartner 152,682 95.9
Write-in 6,463 4

U.S. House of Representatives

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Baumgartner announcing his run for Washington's 5th congressional district.

On February 26, 2024, shortly after incumbent Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers announced she would not seek re-election, Baumgartner announced he would run for Washington's 5th congressional district. While no public polling was conducted, Baumgartner was largely seen as the early favorite for the Republican nomination.[23]

On August 6, 2024, Baumgartner won the primary for the open seat, placing first, with Democrat Carmela Conroy placing second. He received 28.4% of the vote to Conroy's 19.5%[24]

On November 5, 2024, Baumgartner officially won the race for the district with over 60% of the vote.[25] Notably, he outperformed predecessor Cathy McMorris Rogers' result in 2022, despite not being an incumbent and Washington State being one of two states to shift leftward from 2020. He was the best performing Republican out of any candidate in the state, both federally and statewide.[26]

Results

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Blanket primary results[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Baumgartner 35,371 28.4
Democratic Carmela Conroy 24,342 19.5
Republican Jacquelin Maycumber 15,245 12.2
Democratic Bernadine Bank 14,729 11.8
Republican Brian Dansel 12,301 9.9
Democratic Ann Marie Danimus 7,039 5.7
Republican Jonathan Bingle 4,240 3.4
Republican Rene Holaday 3,622 2.9
Republican Rick Flynn 3,204 2.6
Democratic Matthew Welde 2,793 2.2
Democratic Bobbi Bennett-Wolcott 1,619 1.3
Write-in 121 0.1
Total votes 124,626 100.0
 
Results by county
  Baumgartner
  •   40–50%
      30–40%
      20–30%
  Maycumber
  •   30–40%
  •   20–30%
  Dansel
  •   30–40%

Notable achievements and votes

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During his tenure in the State Senate, Baumgartner fought to improve infrastructure in Eastern Washington, including securing the $900 million funding needed to complete the north–south corridor route first proposed sixty years ago, being the sole local Republican to support the major transportation package,[27] helping lead successful efforts to build a new medical school in Spokane which addressed physician shortages in underserved and rural areas of Eastern Washington, which contributed to boosting healthcare economy jobs growth. The medical school, which was directed to be spearheaded by Washington State University, was originally blocked due to a 100-year old law that had given the University of Washington a monopoly on training doctors in the state.[28][29] Baumgartner lead efforts to repeal the law, ultimately being successful in 2015.

Baumgartner considered public education a top priority during his tenure and led efforts to halt increases and reduce tuition for public universities by 20% in Washington State in 2015, including the University of Washington and Washington State University. It is currently the largest successful tuition reduction in the country's history.[7] He has consistently fought for charter schools, which received signficant opposition from the Washington State teachers’ union Washington Education Assocation.[30][31]

One of Baumgartner's most notable personal efforts was in 2016, when he took an outspoken stand against the expulsion of an American Samoan student, Robert Barber, from Washington State University. Barber had been only one credit short of a college degree when he was accused of involvement in a brawl. Baumgartner told a meeting of WSU regents: "If you don’t fix this, I goddamn will." Barber was reinstated to the student body, and was later found innocent of all criminal charges.[32][33][34]

In February 2018, Baumgartner was one of a handful of Washington State legislators to vote against a bill that would have exempted legislators from public records rules.[35]

In the final year of his tenure, 2018, the Washington Policy Center think-tank announced that Baumgartner would be presented with their prestigious "Champion of Freedom" award, in recognition "for his outstanding commitment to free-market principles, worker rights and limited government, particularly in advancing labor reform in our state. WPC’s board chose. Baumgartner for this award in recognition of his "unwavering principled stand on numerous key during his many years in the State Senate."[36]

Concluding the 2018 legislative session, Baumgartner introduced a satirical resolution calling for April 1 to be celebrated as "Governor Jay Inslee Integrity Day", mocking the Governor for his about-turn on vetoing public records legislation.[37][38]

Awards

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Personal life

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Baumgartner and his wife Eleanor have three sons and two daughters. In early 2018, they lost their fifth baby after suffering a late miscarriage.

Baumgartner maintained a close friendship with Washington State University football coach Mike Leach throughout his life.[42] Leach and Baumgartner taught a course together at WSU titled "Leadership Lessons in Insurgent Warfare & Football Strategy," designed to "explore strategy and tactics common in both Guerilla Warfare and college football to provide a backdrop for critical thinking."[43]

References

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  1. ^ "Michael Baumgartner (R) – Candidate for US Senate". KHQ. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  2. ^ "Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner announces bid for Washington's 5th Congressional district". KREM (TV). 2024-02-26. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  3. ^ "Republican Michael Baumgartner and Democrat Carmela Conroy projected to advance in 5th Congressional District primary˜". The Spokesman-Review. 2024-07-06. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  4. ^ "Honors College: Michael Baumgartner". Honors.wsu.edu. 2006-02-14. Archived from the original on 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  5. ^ "What I'd rather read – The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  6. ^ "Vote Michael Baumgartner for US Senate". Baumgartnerforsenate.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  7. ^ a b c d https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/oct/13/how-michael-baumgartner-became-the-frontrunner-to-/
  8. ^ "WA State Senate District 6 – Open Primary Race – Aug 17, 2010". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  9. ^ "WA State Senate District 6 Race – Nov 02, 2010". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  10. ^ "Bill Sponsorship". Leg.wa.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  11. ^ "SMALL BUSINESS SLAMS BALTIMORE COUNCIL FOR LABOR COST INCREASE". NFIB. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  12. ^ "Home – Senate Republican Caucus". senaterepublicans.wa.gov. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  13. ^ "Baumgartner". Tim Eyman. 2024-07-25.
  14. ^ "How Michael Baumgartner became the frontrunner to be Eastern Washington's next Congressman". The Spokesman-Review. 2024-10-28.
  15. ^ "Baumgartner". Leg.wa.gov. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  16. ^ "2 Dems join GOP in state Senate coup, say parties will split power | Politics Northwest". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  17. ^ "Baumgartner named vice chair of budget-writing Ways and Means Committee as part of Majority Coalition Caucus". Michael Baumgartner. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  18. ^ "Washington – Oregon – Idaho". Nwcn.com. 2011-09-30. Archived from the original on 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  19. ^ "Baumgartner endorses marijuana initiative". Spin Control (blog). The Spokesman-Review. October 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  20. ^ "Cantwell's GOP Foe Wants Legal Pot". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. October 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  21. ^ Edelen, Amy (November 6, 2018). "Michael Baumgartner will be next Spokane County treasurer". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  22. ^ "Spokane County November 8, 2022 General Election".
  23. ^ "Five Takeaways from This Week's Washington State Primary". 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  24. ^ a b "August 6, 2024 Primary Results". Office of the Secretary of State of Washington. 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  25. ^ "AP Race Call: Republican Michael Baumgartner wins election to U.S. House in Washington's 5th Congressional District". Associated Press. November 6, 2024.
  26. ^ https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20241105/congressional-district-5-us-representative.html
  27. ^ Walters, Daniel. "The Two Baumgartners". Inlander. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  28. ^ "WSU medical school in Spokane gets Senate OK". spokesman.com. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  29. ^ "Gov. Jay Inslee signs WSU medical school legislation | WSU Insider | Washington State University". WSU Insider. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  30. ^ "Lawmakers float proposal to keep charter schools". seattletimes.com. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  31. ^ Criscione, Wilson. "Baumgartner to Spokane charter schools: 'We're going to continue to need your help'". Inlander. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  32. ^ "State Sen. Michael Baumgartner, Jack Thompson, others point to Robert Barber in call for WSU student conduct reform". The Seattle Times. 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  33. ^ "Forum at WSU brings threats by state Sen. Michael Baumgartner amid impassioned defense of football player Robert Barber". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  34. ^ "Acquitted of assault, former WSU lineman Robert Barber 'hoping to get on with his life and into the NFL'". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  35. ^ "Washington State Legislature praises itself for expanding transparency. Media and open government groups call BS". Inlander.com. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  36. ^ "2018 Annual Dinner". washingtonpolicy.org. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  37. ^ "Senate resolution takes shot at Inslee". spokesman.com. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  38. ^ ""Governor Inslee Integrity Day"? - Washington State Wire". Washington State Wire. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  39. ^ "69 Lawmakers Win Main Street's Highest Award". nfib.com. May 12, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  40. ^ "Baumgartner". Tim Eyman. 2024-07-25.
  41. ^ "Michael and Eleanor Baumgartner named Washington Policy Center's Eastern Washington Senior Advisors". washingtonpolicy.org. January 23, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  42. ^ "Spokane County official celebrates his travels with Mike Leach". KPBX-FM. 14 December 2022.
  43. ^ "Leadership Lessons in Insurgent Warfare & Football Strategy" (PDF). Whitman County Watch.
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Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Washington
(Class 1)
2012 		Succeeded by
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