U.S. House · Washington's 5th District

Eastern Washington, including Spokane and the surrounding region.

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 20 claims re-checked against their sources · 1 corrected · 0 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • Reworded Baumgartner's tuition record item: his own campaign-site quote says he 'led the successful push for' the tuition reduction, not that he authored the legislation, so changed 'authoring legislation to reduce' to 'leading a successful push to reduce' to match the source. All other bio, background, committee, and Conroy background/priorities/position facts and quotes verified verbatim against their cited Ballotpedia pages. Confirmed both candidates are the correct Nov 3 ballot lines (Baumgartner R, Conroy D) per Ballotpedia's current race page.

On the ballot · 2 candidates

Where they stand — side by side

Only positions documented in a cited source are shown. Where an officeholder’s recorded votes speak to an issue, the votes set the position (marked “votes”). A dash means we found no clear public position — not that the candidate has none.

ISSUEMichael Baumgartner
R
Carmela Conroy
D
Expand immigration enforcement and deportationsSupports[4][5][6][7]votesOpposes[3]
Raise taxes on high earners or corporationsOpposes[5][6][7]votes—
Expand public health coverageOpposes[5][6][7][8]votesSupports[3]
Faster transition away from fossil fuelsOpposes[5][6][7]votes—
Raise the minimum wage—Supports[3]
Broad tariffs on imported goodsSupports[9]votesOpposes[3]

The candidates, in full

Michael Baumgartner

RINCUMBENTU.S. Representative (since 2025)

Advanced from the August 4 top-two primary

Michael Baumgartner is the incumbent Republican U.S. Representative for Washington's 5th District, elected in 2024 to succeed Cathy McMorris Rodgers. He previously served as Spokane County Treasurer and in the Washington State Senate.[1]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Key votes in Congress

  • NoWar Powers Resolution directing removal of forces from Iran hostilities · H. Con. Res. 86 · Passed 215–208 · 2026-06-03 roll call ↗The resolution directs the President to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran that Congress has not authorized, invoking the War Powers Resolution. It passed the House with support from Democrats and a number of Republicans.
  • NoResolution disapproving tariffs on Canada · H.J. Res. 72 · Passed 219–211 · 2026-02-11 roll call ↗The resolution terminates the national emergency the President declared in February 2025 to justify a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada, ending that tariff if it becomes law. It passed with a bipartisan majority, including several Republicans who broke with the administration on trade policy.
  • YesConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 — full-year government funding · H.R. 7148 · Passed 217–214 · 2026-02-03 roll call ↗The bill provides full-year discretionary appropriations for federal agencies for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, replacing the stopgap funding enacted after the fall 2025 shutdown. It sets spending levels across defense and non-defense programs through September 2026.
  • NoBreaking the Gridlock Act — ACA subsidy extension · H.R. 1834 · Passed 230–196 · 2026-01-08 roll call ↗The bill extends for additional years the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that were expanded in 2021 and had lapsed at the end of 2025, lowering health-insurance premiums for people who buy coverage on ACA marketplaces. It passed with support from nearly all Democrats and a small group of Republicans.
  • NoWar Powers Resolution on Venezuela · H. Con. Res. 64 · Failed 211–213 · 2025-12-17 roll call ↗The resolution would have directed the President to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities in or against Venezuela that Congress had not authorized. It failed after U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels off Venezuela had raised questions in Congress about the administration's legal authority for military action in the region.
  • YesNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 — final passage · S. 1071 · Passed 312–112 · 2025-12-10 roll call ↗The fiscal year 2026 NDAA authorizes roughly $900 billion in defense spending, including a pay raise for service members and funding for shipbuilding, munitions, and missile-defense programs. It also sets policy on military personnel, procurement, and other Defense Department programs for the year.
  • YesEpstein Files Transparency Act · H.R. 4405 · Passed 427–1 · 2025-11-18 roll call ↗The bill directs the Department of Justice to publicly release its investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, while allowing redactions to protect victim identities, ongoing investigations, and law enforcement techniques. It passed with near-unanimous support.
  • YesContinuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 — shutdown-ending vote · H.R. 5371 · Passed 222–209 · 2025-11-12 roll call ↗The bill reopened the federal government after a 43-day shutdown by funding most agencies through January 30, 2026, and providing full-year funding for a smaller group of agencies through September 2026. It also reversed shutdown-related federal layoffs and funded SNAP benefits retroactively.
  • YesCLARITY Act — digital asset market structure · H.R. 3633 · Passed 294–134 · 2025-07-17 roll call ↗The CLARITY Act creates a regulatory framework dividing oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It sets registration and disclosure requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and other digital-asset intermediaries.
  • YesGENIUS Act — stablecoin regulation · S. 1582 · Passed 308–122 · 2025-07-17 roll call ↗The GENIUS Act creates a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to hold reserves backing their tokens on a one-to-one basis and to comply with new disclosure and licensing rules. It was the first major piece of cryptocurrency legislation enacted into federal law.
  • YesOne Big Beautiful Bill Act — final passage · H.R. 1 · Passed 218–214 · 2025-07-03 roll call ↗H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, extends and expands the 2017 tax cuts, adds new deductions for tips, overtime pay, and seniors, and raises the cap on state and local tax deductions. It increases border security and defense spending while cutting projected Medicaid and SNAP spending and adding new work requirements; President Trump signed it into law on July 4, 2025.
  • YesRescissions Act of 2025 · H.R. 4 · Passed 214–212 · 2025-06-12 roll call ↗The Rescissions Act canceled about $9 billion in previously approved federal spending, mostly for foreign aid programs and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It was the first rescissions package Congress had approved in decades.
  • YesOne Big Beautiful Bill Act — House passage · H.R. 1 · Passed 215–214 · 2025-05-22 roll call ↗H.R. 1 extends and modifies the 2017 individual and business tax cuts, creates new deductions for tips and overtime pay, and increases spending on border security and defense. It also reduces projected spending on Medicaid and food-assistance programs and adds new work requirements for some recipients.
  • YesSAVE Act — proof-of-citizenship voter registration · H.R. 22 · Passed 220–208 · 2025-04-10 roll call ↗The SAVE Act would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person when registering to vote in federal elections. It also directs states to establish procedures to remove noncitizens identified on voter rolls.
  • YesFull-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 · H.R. 1968 · Passed 217–213 · 2025-03-11 roll call ↗The bill funded the federal government through the remainder of fiscal year 2025, largely at prior-year spending levels, averting a shutdown ahead of a March 14 deadline. It also extended several expiring health and other program authorizations.
  • YesLaken Riley Act — final passage · S. 5 · Passed 263–156 · 2025-01-22 roll call ↗The Laken Riley Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants who are arrested, charged, or convicted for theft, burglary, or certain violent crimes. It also allows state attorneys general to sue the federal government over certain immigration enforcement decisions.

On the record — official actions

  • actionSits on the House Committee on the Judiciary (Courts, Intellectual Property, AI and the Internet subcommittee; Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust subcommittee), the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs for the 2025-2026 Congress.[1]
  • actionServed in the Washington State Senate representing the 6th Legislative District from 2011 to 2019.[1]

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsExpand immigration enforcement and deportationsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on Laken Riley Act (S. 5, 2025-01-22). Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which funded expanded immigration enforcement, detention and border operations.[4][5][6][7]

  • OpposesExpand public health coverageFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which reduced federal Medicaid spending and added Medicaid work requirements. Voted no on Breaking the Gridlock Act (H.R. 1834, 2026-01-08).[5][6][7][8]

  • OpposesFaster transition away from fossil fuelsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which phased out Inflation Reduction Act clean-energy tax credits.[5][6][7]

  • OpposesRaise taxes on high earners or corporationsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which made the 2017 individual tax rates, including the 37% top rate, permanent.[5][6][7]

  • SupportsBroad tariffs on imported goodsFrom recorded votes

    Voted no on Resolution disapproving tariffs on Canada (H.J. Res. 72, 2026-02-11).[9]

Background

  • Born in Pullman, Washington, in 1975. Earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington State University (1999) and a Master's of Public Administration from Harvard University (2002).[1]
  • Worked as an economic affairs officer with the U.S. State Department in Iraq and as a part-time economic adviser to the U.S. military.[1]
  • Served in the Washington State Senate from 2011 to 2019 and as Spokane County Treasurer from 2019 to 2025, overseeing a roughly $1.9 billion fixed-income investment fund.[1][2]
  • As a state senator, says he played a lead role in creating a WSU medical school in Spokane, securing funding to complete the North-South Freeway, and leading a successful push to reduce the cost of college tuition.[2]

Campaign money

Raised $1.7M · spent $976K · $954K cash on hand (through 2026-07-15) FEC filing ↗

Carmela Conroy

D

Advanced from the August 4 top-two primary

Carmela Conroy is a Democratic candidate for Washington's 5th District, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and deputy prosecuting attorney.[3]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Positions on the issues

  • OpposesBroad tariffs on imported goods

    Calls for ending current tariff policy, saying it would cut prices for consumers and businesses and restore normal trade relations with neighboring countries.[3]

  • SupportsExpand public health coverage

    Supports restoring Medicare and Medicaid funding to previous levels, extending Medicaid to all children under 19, and allowing federal health programs to negotiate drug prices.[3]

  • SupportsRaise the minimum wage

    Supports an inflation-indexed federal minimum wage with paid time off and paid sick leave.[3]

  • OpposesExpand immigration enforcement and deportations

    Calls for defunding border-security assets not directed to official ports of entry and defunding detention-center construction, while excepting people facing criminal charges.[3]

In their words — priorities

  • Calls for ending "tariff chaos" to lower prices for consumers and businesses and restore normal trade relations with Canada and Mexico.[3]
  • Supports restoring Medicare and Medicaid funding, extending Medicaid coverage to all children up to age 19, and allowing federal health programs to negotiate lower drug prices.[3]
  • Calls for a federal minimum-wage law indexed to inflation with paid time off and paid sick leave.[3]
  • On government accountability, supports prohibiting members of Congress from trading individual stocks.[3]

Background

  • Born in Spokane, Washington. Earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, a graduate degree from the U.S. Naval War College, and a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law.[3]
  • Career experience includes serving as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, national security professional, and deputy prosecuting attorney.[3]
  • Has been affiliated with the League of Women Voters, Friends of the Bluff, Spokane Preservation Advocates, and the American Foreign Service Association.[3]

Campaign money

Raised $396K · spent $335K · $74K cash on hand (through 2026-07-15) FEC filing ↗

Research notes & limits

Baumgartner has not completed a 2026 Candidate Connection survey and his Ballotpedia campaign-website quote on file dates to his 2024 campaign, so no current-cycle priorities/positions statements were found for him in this pass beyond his committee assignments; his official House issues page was not checked. Conroy's positions are drawn from her July 2026 campaign website as quoted on Ballotpedia; she has not completed a 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Sources · 9

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.Michael Baumgartner (Washington) · Ballotpedia Reference
  2. 2.Michael Baumgartner's campaign website (quoted) · Ballotpedia, quoting Michael Baumgartner's campaign website Candidate's own words
  3. 3.Carmela Conroy's campaign website (quoted July 22, 2026) · Ballotpedia, quoting Carmela Conroy's campaign website Candidate's own words
  4. 4.Roll call: Laken Riley Act — final passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-01-22 Official record
  5. 5.Roll call: One Big Beautiful Bill Act — House passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-05-22 Official record
  6. 6.H.R. 1 (119th Congress) — One Big Beautiful Bill Act: text and summary · Congress.gov Official record
  7. 7.Roll call: One Big Beautiful Bill Act — final passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-07-03 Official record
  8. 8.Roll call: Breaking the Gridlock Act — ACA subsidy extension · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2026-01-08 Official record
  9. 9.Roll call: Resolution disapproving tariffs on Canada · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2026-02-11 Official record