Kim Schrier

Kimberly Merle Schrier (/ˈʃraɪər/ SHRIRE; born August 23, 1968)^[1][2] is an American politician and a former physician serving as the U.S. representative from Washington's 8th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Kim Schrier
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Dave Reichert
Personal details
Born	Kimberly Merle Schrier (1968-08-23) August 23, 1968 (age 55) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	David Gowing
Children	1
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BS) University of California, Davis (MD)
Website	House website

Early life and career

Schrier was born and raised in Los Angeles, California,^[2] and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in astrophysics. She attended the University of California Davis School of Medicine, where she earned her Doctor of Medicine degree. She continued on to a residency at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Schrier's professional career as a pediatrician began in Ashland, Oregon, where she worked for one year before joining Virginia Mason Medical Center in Issaquah, Washington in 2001. While working at Virginia Mason, she became politically active, particularly on healthcare issues. In 2017, Schrier was dissatisfied with Congressman Dave Reichert's handling of the efforts to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and this, coupled with her frustration with the results of the 2016 elections, led to her decision to enter politics.^[3][4]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington § District 8

Schrier announced her candidacy to represent Washington's 8th congressional district in August 2017, a year before the jungle primary. She initially intended to challenge incumbent Dave Reichert, but the seat became open in September 2017 when Reichert announced he was retiring. She had decided to run after the 2016 election, making the expansion of Medicare and the Affordable Care Act the centerpiece of her campaign.^[3][5][6][7]

No Democrat had ever been elected to represent the district and Reichert had been seen as a relatively safe incumbent, but his decision to retire left the seat as a potential Democratic pickup in an election year already leaning toward the Democratic Party.^[8]

Schrier advanced from the top-two primary, narrowly defeating attorney Jason Rittereiser, and advancing to face Republican nominee Dino Rossi in the general election.^[9] The 8th district campaign attracted $25 million in spending, making it the most expensive in state history and one of the costliest nationally in 2018, including controversial attack ads from the Rossi campaign.^[10][11] One such ad nicknamed Schrier "Dr. Tax" and depicted her holding a large stack of $20 bills. The ad was perceived as antisemitic by The Washington Post.^[12]

Schrier won the general election with 52% of the vote.^[13][14]

2020

See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington § District 8

Schrier ran for reelection. She advanced from the top-two primary in first place^[15] and faced the second-place finisher, Republican U.S. Army veteran and Amazon senior project manager Jesse Jensen.^[16] Schrier won the general election with 51.7% of the vote.^[17]

2022

See also: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington § District 8

Schrier defeated Republican nominee and lawyer Matt Larkin with 53.4% of the vote.^[18][19] In 2022, Washington's 8th District was the state's most competitive and was among the key races in determining House partisan control.^[20] During the race, Schrier criticized Larkin's proposals for abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest.^[21]

Tenure

During Donald Trump's administration, Schrier voted in line with the president's stated position 6.6% of the time.^[22] As of June 2023, Schrier had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.^[23]

Committee assignments

 

Schrier speaking with Bill Northey during a House Agriculture Committee event in 2019.

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research
  • Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations
• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

• New Democrat Coalition^[24]

Electoral history

Nonpartisan blanket primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dino Rossi^[a]	73,288	43.1
	Democratic	Kim Schrier	31,837	18.7
	Democratic	Jason Rittereiser	30,708	18.1
	Democratic	Shannon Hader	21,317	12.5
	Republican	Jack Hughes-Hageman	4,270	2.5
	Republican	Gordon Allen Pross	2,081	1.2
	Democratic	Tom Cramer	1,468	0.9
	Independent	Bill Grassie^[b]	1,163	0.7
	Libertarian	Richard Travis Reyes	1,154	0.7
	Independent	Keith Arnold	1,090	0.6
	Independent	Patrick Dillon^[c]	898	0.5
	No party preference	Todd Mahaffey	673	0.4
Total votes			169,947	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier	164,089	52.4
	Republican	Dino Rossi	148,968	47.6
Total votes			313,057	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Nonpartisan blanket primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	106,611	43.3
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	49,368	20.0
	Republican	Keith R. Swank	42,809	17.4
	Trump Republican Party	Dean Saulibio	28,976	11.8
	Independent	Corey Bailey	6,552	2.7
	Democratic	James Mitchell	6,187	2.5
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	4,111	1.7
	No party preference	Ryan Dean Burkett	1,458	0.6
	Write-in		289	0.1
Total votes			246,361	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	213,123	51.7
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	198,423	48.2
	Write-in		566	0.1
Total votes			412,112	100.0
	Democratic hold

Nonpartisan blanket primary results^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	97,700	47.9
	Republican	Matt Larkin	34,684	17.0
	Republican	Reagan Dunn	29,494	14.4
	Republican	Jesse Jensen	26,350	12.9
	Republican	Scott Stephenson	7,954	3.9
	Democratic	Emet Ward	1,832	0.9
	Republican	Dave Chapman	1,811	0.9
	Democratic	Keith Arnold	1,669	0.8
	Libertarian	Justin Greywolf	1,518	0.7
	Independent	Ryan Burkett	701	0.3
	Independent	Patrick Dillon	296	0.1
	Write-in		122	0.1
Total votes			204,131	100.0

Washington's 8th congressional district, 2022^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kim Schrier (incumbent)	179,003	53.3
	Republican	Matt Larkin	155,976	46.4
	Write-in		1,059	0.3
Total votes			336,038	100.0
	Democratic hold

Personal life

Schrier and her husband, David Gowing, have a son and live in Sammamish, Washington.^[27][5] Her grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Europe who arrived in the United States before World War II.^[28] Schrier has Type 1 diabetes.^[3]

See also

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

1. "Kim Schrier, Representative for Washington's 8th Congressional District". GovTrack.us. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
2. "Candidate Conversation - Kim Schrier (D)". Inside Elections. April 20, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
3. Brunner, Jim (July 26, 2018). "Kim Schrier, a doctor, makes health care a centerpiece of her 8th District campaign for Congress". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
4. Parks, Maryalice; Scott, Rachel; Berkowitz, Brittany (October 19, 2018). "Why Kim Schrier left medicine to run for Congress". ABC News. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
5. Parks, Maryalice; Scott, Rachel; Berkowitz, Brittany (October 19, 2018). "Why Kim Schrier left medicine to run for Congress". ABC News. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
6. "Washington doctor brings personal touch to health care message in House campaign". NBC News. Associated Press. November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
7. Goodell, Emily (August 24, 2017). "More Democrats to challenge Reichert for 8th District seat". Daily Record. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
8. Weigel, David (September 6, 2017). "Dave Reichert, a swing seat Republican, will retire from the House". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
9. Brunner, Jim (August 13, 2018). "Kim Schrier edges out Jason Rittereiser to face Dino Rossi in 8th Congressional District". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
10. Brunner, Jim (October 28, 2018). "A record-setting flood of outside money pushes Dino Rossi-Kim Schrier congressional race over $25M mark". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
11. Brunner, Jim (November 6, 2018). "Kim Schrier leads Dino Rossi in 8th Congressional District". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
12. Rosenberg, Eli (November 6, 2018). "Republicans attack Jewish candidates across the U.S. with an age-old caricature: Fistfuls of cash". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
13. Brunner, Jim (November 7, 2018). "Dino Rossi concedes 8th District race to Kim Schrier as new votes widen her lead". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
14. "November 6, 2018 General Election: Congressional District 8". Washington Secretary of State. November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
15. "August 4, 2020 Primary Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
16. Brunner, Jim (October 1, 2019). "Amazon manager, Trump supporter says Schrier 'too liberal,' wants to flip 8th District back to Republican". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
17. "November 3, 2020 General Election Results". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
18. "Washington Eighth Congressional District Election Results". The New York Times. November 8, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
19. "Democrat Kim Schrier Wins Reelection to Washington's 8th District". King 5 News. November 11, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
20. "WA Democrat Schrier leads 8th Congressional District race". The Seattle Times. November 8, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
21. "Rep. Schrier, challenger Matt Larkin clash in debate over who's extreme". The Seattle Times. October 28, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
22. Bycoffe, Aaron (January 30, 2017). "Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
23. Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
24. "Leadership | New Democrat Coalition". newdemocratcoalition.house.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
25. "August 2, 2022 Primary Results - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 8". Secretary of State of Washington. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
26. "November 8, 2022 General Election Results - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 8". Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
27. . UC Davis Medicine. September 2008. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
28. Daniels, Chris (August 17, 2018). "Did Democratic candidate Schrier compare campaign to WWII service?". KING 5. Retrieved November 7, 2018.

Footnotes

1. Listed on ballot as "GOP Party."
2. Listed on ballot as "Independent Centrist."
3. Listed on ballot as "Neither Major Party."

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kim Schrier.

• Congresswoman Kim Schrier official U.S. House website
• Campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Dave Reichert	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 8th congressional district 2019–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Chip Roy	United States representatives by seniority 275th	Succeeded by Mikie Sherrill