SEQUIM, Wash.—A capacity crowd at the Seven Cedars Hotel gave Makah leader Patrick DePoe warm applause as he promised to protect health care and public education and fight for good paying jobs and affordable housing if elected to the legislature in the Nov. 3 midterm election. Should he win, Depoe will represent Legislative District 24, Position 2 here on the Olympic Peninsula.
In DePoe’s audience were leaders of the Native American tribes of this region—Makah, Jamestown S’Klallams, Lower Elwha Klallam, and Quinault—as well as many union representatives, including the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Washington Education Association, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Service Employees International Union, and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
Many leaders and members of the Clallam County Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists of America were also present.
DePoe is one of four candidates running in the Aug. 4 primary to replace Rep. Steve Tharinger, who is retiring. The two highest primary vote getters will be on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
Ron Allen, chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council, praised DePoe as a highly qualified candidate who now serves as Executive Director of the Association of Washington Tribes, working tirelessly to defend the basic interests of the state’s 29 sovereign tribes.
Allen pointed out that DePoe is one of several Native American Indians running for election in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Allen also cited former U.S. Interior Secretary, Deb. Haaland, a Pueblo tribal member, now running for election as governor of New Mexico. It also includes Mary Peltola, a Democrat, who is running for the U.S. Senate to represent Alaska. Peltola is a member of the Orutsaramiut tribal council.
T.J. Greene, Chair of the Makah Tribal Council in Neah Bay, said he is a close friend—indeed employed on DePoe’s fishing boat in Neah Bay—and served together with DePoe on the Makah Tribal Council. He hailed DePoe for his prowess on the Neah Bay High School football team which he, too, played for. Greene strongly endorsed DePoe for election to the Washington State Legislature.
Clallam County Democratic Party Chair Ellen Menshew told the crowd she was born and raised in Alaska, her classmates, neighbors, and friends Native Americans. She urged a major get-out-the-vote effort to elect DePoe.
Julie Johnson, longtime chair of the Native American Caucus of the Washington State Democratic Party, praised DePoe for his leadership as executive director of the Association of Washington Tribes which unites the 29 Native American tribes in Washington State.
DePoe told the crowd that he will work to represent the vital interests of the five tribes in LD-24 and all the tribes of Washington State. But his intention reaches beyond the needs of the tribes to embrace all the people of LD-24.
He dwelled on the health care crisis, the looming danger that the Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles may close or suffer drastic cuts in services. If OMC closes, he warned, “it would mean a four- or five-hour drive to reach a full service hospital in Silverdale.” Tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients face termination of all their medical coverage if President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful” budget bill with a trillion-dollar cut in Medicaid and SNAP Nutrition benefits takes effect right after the midterm election, as scheduled.
DePoe said the “millionaire’s tax” passed in the last session of the legislature will provide over $3 billion annually to help replace those stolen federal revenues. He vowed to fight for “health care for all,” food benefits to feed homeless and hungry people in LD-24, and full funding for public schools.
DePoe denounced the drive by timber interests to log in the Elwha River watershed despite unanimous appeals by the Port Angeles City Council to ban all logging in the watershed that provides drinking water for the city. He promised, if elected, to “protect all forests and rivers, protect the spawning grounds of salmon, halibut, shellfish and other wildlife in the oceans and streams.”
DePoe denounced the racist smears targeting him, such as the false rumor that he is an alcoholic and an enemy of the environment. He never drinks alcohol, he said, and has a proven record of defending the environment. He is a board member of the Washington Conservation Education Fund and previously served as a paid tribal liaison for the Department of Natural Resources.
He also assailed the Jackson Legacy Fund super PAC for suddenly dumping $25,000 into the campaign coffers of one of his rivals. Named for late U.S. Sen. Henry Jackson, D-Wash., the Jackson Legacy Fund describes itself as “pragmatic” claiming that it “cuts through the noise” and pours millions in cash into backing “Democrats who deliver results and are ready to govern….”
DePoe did not mention the recipient of this slush fund money, but it is clear to most that the beneficiary is Kaylee Kuehn, in her twenties, in her first run for political office.
“Why would a super PAC target me?” DePoe asked, citing his long, proven record of fighting for the basic interests of the tribes and the entire multiracial community of LD-24. “I’m flattered,” he added as the crowd erupted in applause.
As a reporter covering Washington, D.C., for People’s World and its predecessors from 1968 until 1993, I wrote many articles about Jackson, “the Gentleman from Boeing.” Despite the “pragmatic” designation, Jackson was a right-wing, Cold War Democrat who joined with his close friend, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., in seeking to ram through the U.S. Senate legislation to pour billions of tax dollars into Boeing construction of the “Supersonic Transport,” SST. Despite the pleas of Goldwater and Jackson, the Senate was pragmatic and voted the SST down, a plane that came to be known as the “flying Edsel.”
Jackson ran for president in 1972 and 1976. As a longtime resident of Washington State, I wrote a series of articles exposing “Scoop” Jackson. My method was simple: I read in the Congressional Record every speech delivered on the floor of the House and Senate uttered by Jackson. I
I found a speech he delivered as a House member during the Korean War gushing enthusiasm for the use of “tactical nuclear weapons” by U.S. armed forces in the Korean War. This was at a time when Gen. Douglas MacArthur was scheming to escalate the Korean War into World War III, a war against the People’s’ Republic of China and the Soviet Union—warmongering so dangerous that President Harry Truman fired MacArthur. And here was Sen. Scoop Jackson urging use of nuclear weapons in Korea.
My articles appeared, and Jackson’s campaign fizzled. The magazine New Republic reported that “the left has found its range on Sen. Jackson.” His views on use of nuclear weapons were not very pragmatic.
Voters in the 2026 primary do not need Scoop Jackson-style pragmatism. A strong stand for democratic principles and outspoken opposition to Trump-MAGA wars is what’s needed.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views expressed here are those of the author.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
