SPOKANE, Wash. – When Spokane City Councilmember Jonathan Bingle (R) visited the US-Mexico Border in early March, County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner (R) said it was a political stunt. Baumgartner visited the border himself this week.
Bingle and Baumgartner are both candidates for Washington’s 5th district US congressional seat. When Bingle visited the border, Baumgartner argued that Bingle should focus on issues in Spokane.
“There’s much more that can be done right at home in the City of Spokane where Councilman Bingle currently serves, to stop the scourge of drug use and homelessness in our own community,” Baumgartner said.
Baumgartner took a similar tour as Bingle around the border this week, visiting with law enforcement officials and conservative activists.
Bingle congratulated Baumgartner on his visit Monday.
“I’m glad Michael took my lead. I was the first one to go down there, and he agreed with my policy proposals to fix it,” Bingle said.
Baumgartner distanced himself from Bingle’s visit, saying that he was there at the invitation of former State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.
“I think other candidates did some play acting and came down for spring break,” Baumgartner said.
State Representative and fellow US congressional candidate Jacquelin Maycumber (R) criticized Baumgartner’s visit on Thursday.
“Just two months ago, Michael Baumgartner called it a ‘political stunt’ to go down to the Southern Border. And just recently he went down to our Southern border for his own ‘political stunt,’” Maycumber said.
Maycumber touted her recent slate of law enforcement endorsements as an alternative to the border trip.
Regardless of border visits, all three candidates have addressed immigration and drug usage over the course of their campaigns and have echoed former President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the Biden Administration’s handling of the border.
Whether voters are moved by Bingle and Baumgartner’s trip to the border will be determined during Washington’s August primaries.
