The ninth Congressional District changed because of a movement Pramila helped lead. The argument was to create a low income, high minority CD compirsed of “people of color.” The assumption by everyone was that her next step would be to replace Adam Smith, a very corporatist Democrat who is especially well known as a Congressman from Northrup Grumman.
Pramila was widely expected to be the replacement for Adam Smith, Her friend Kshama Sawant was expected to run against Jim McDermott. Jayapal stepped in blocking not just Sawant but a number of African American politicians who might well have run for McDermott’s or Smith’s seat. Intestingly, Sawant has not endorsed Pramila. It may also be worth noting that Pramila’s fundraiser was organized by a group of wealthy Indian Americans. Jim McDermott has been a strong proponent of trade wiht India . When we attended his annual potato feast, all the Seattle Congressman could talk about was India. He has served as Chair of the House “Indian Caucus” and been very outspoken about the weakness of the India lobby as compared, for example, with the Israeli lobby. I wonder whether Jim may leave Congress for a more lucrative position representing Indian businesses in the US?
The Jayapal campaign smells bad to me .. not very different from Trump’s complaining he is losing because the election is fixed.
To adapt a quote from Barack Obama “I’d invite Ms. Jayapal to stop whining and go try to make her case to get votes.”
On FACEBOOK, the Pramila Jayapal Campaign is complaining that the supporters of Brady Walkinshaw are going negative.
Pramila’s supporters on FACEBOOK really get angry with me about my dissing her decision to run outside her own district and they think I am wrong to complain about her fund raising activities on the East Coast.
To be fair her FACEBOOK fans include paid members of her campaign.
I must be having some effect because her campaign apparently does not understand that criticism of her lack of positions is not “bashing.” I have been very clear that I admire what she has done in her District, CD 9. SHE worked very hard to create CD9 a majority 
minority district. Most of us assumed she was planning to run to replace Adam Smith, a traditional Democrat with ties to the defense industry and no obvious interest in his immigrant constituents. I would have been an enthusiastic supporter if she ran in CD9. Pramila, however, abandoned her district when Jim McDermott decided to retire.
Pramila made this even more Trumplike by promising to move into CD 7 only IF she wins.
Let me be clear, if you want to yell at me for bashing anyone, I am bashing Jim McDermott. I do not want McDermott II.
I need to admit to having a prejudice in this matter. Pramila Jayapal supported Kshama Sawant in her campaign against Pamela Banks for City Council. Pam, the CEO of the Urban League, is an African 
American but Sawant’s campaign ran as if her Hindu origins made her a “person of color.” Equating the history of the Brahmins of India to the story of African Americans is deeply offensive to me. Undermining African American leaders by Seattle liberals has its own sad history in this district, dating back to McDermott’s campaign against Norm Rice. .
So, I am bashing Jim McDermott, not because he blocked Norm Rice m but because of the job Jim did in Congress. McDermott is mostly known for his strong positions of the Iraq wars, single payer health care and other very real progressive issues dear to the hearts of Seattle voters. In Congress, however, Jim never showed support for federal funding for science (the UW), support for oceanography and ecology (Puget Sound), support for high speed rail (Seattle…Vancouver BC; Seattle .. Spokane), support for urban low cost housing (Seattle), support for immigration reform for the kind of immigrants that fuel Seattle and the UW. He even failed to support Group Health when this Seattle health icon fought to play a role in Hillary Clinton’s effort to pass healthcare. Later, Jim wrote a terrible article about healthcare in a major medical journal, praising a dubious model of medical education in Texas while ignoring the fact the UW School of Medicine is number 1 in that field.
Hispanic roots as the grandson of refugees from Castro. Nor has Pramila campaigned like Sawant as if an upper class Brahmin should be seen as a person of color. If anything, I see race identity as being an advantage held by Pramila because of her success as an organizer of divers immigrant communities in CD 9. My issues with her are about local politics.
I also see little difference in Jim’s heritage as a champion of national progressive politics . As many commentators have said, Pramila and Brady take almost identical stands on such issues. That said, Pramila avoids tricky issues like those arising from the new Amazon-driven Seattle economy. These range from H1 visas to urban transportation and unionization of of Amazon workers.
A fundraiser for Pramila was hosted by socialite Claire White in Manhattan. The event was supported by among others, community leader Dr. Thomas Abraham, attorney Appen Menon, SaberCloud principal Saji George and comedian Dan Nainan. From left to right: Dan Nainan, Appen Menon, Pramila Jayapal, Dr. Thomas Abraham and Saji George. The Hindu-American community is also a major part of the support for Bernie Sanders.
I tried to get Pramila to answer questions on these issues and did meet with her at an event sponsored by David Brewster. She refused to answer my questions. In contrast, Brady has been wonderful. We spent an hour and .. even where we disagreed … I realized he usually knows as much or more than I do on these Seattle issues.
Brady is a very different sort of candidate from Pramila. As a state Senator, Ms. Jayapal is rated near the bottom because she does not work well with her colleagues. Brady is rated as the most effective man in the legislature. She has 100s of thousands of dollars of support from PACS located on the East Coast, including national unions like SEIU. His candidacy is almost entirely local. Brady is also deeply interested in the issues affecting Puget Sound. Brady married Micah Horwith, a NOAA Oceanographer at UW and, as a couple, they have a deep interest in Seattle’s maritime industrial base. Pramila is married to Steve Williamson. (*NOTE: Bing links ot him as a real estate developer.That is incorrect. Her husband is a labor union organizer and political activist. He currently works as Director of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union 21.)
As a UW Professor I am excited that Brady talks in depth about the UW’s programs in computer science and biology. Pramila’s only knowledge of the UW seems to be the effort by her SEIU union supporters to organize the UW faculty as the first top ranked research campus to be run by a union. Although the overwhelming majority of our faculty are progressive, the SEIU campaign is opposed because it would undermine the model of shared governance essential to a great research university.
I am not even convinced that Pramila realizes that the UW, along with UC Berkeley, is one of only two American public universities still rated as among the top twenty world class universities.
Shelly Crocker Chad, I respect and admire your commitment to positive politics. But I also support Brady Walkinshaw in this race. Pramila is a good candidate but she is vulnerable for precisely the reasons coming to light by virtue of Brady’s campaign messaging – she is a better organizer than legislator, her ambition won out over the common sense feeling that you should serve the district you live in, and she is getting more support nationally from the Bernie apparatus than she is locally. All that being said, consultants do not help us. Brady has also adopted a person to person approach, and is speaking in person to as many as he can reach. Again, thank you for all you do to contribute to civil discourse. Reasonable people can disagree on this one. Brady Walkinshaw