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CHC Roundup: Rep. Emily Randall (WA-06) - Welcome to the Jungle [1]
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Date: 2025-09-06
Rep. Emily Randall is a New Face in Congress, having first been elected in 2024 to Washington’s 6th district. Even though she has served in the Washington state senate before joining Congress there was still a sharp learning curve in Washington, DC. She joined Tu Caucus to explain how she is adjusting to her new surroundings.
Randall waded straight into the culture wars upon arriving in Washington, DC. She put up a sign on her personal office stating that anyone regardless of gender identity or political ideology are welcome to use her restroom which drew criticism from the fascists.
With a simple yet striking sign, U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, a Washington Democrat , is making a bold statement against Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s new bathroom policy, which bars transgender people from using Capitol facilities aligned with their gender identity. Outside Randall’s fifth-floor Washington, D.C. , office in the Longworth House Office Building, a colorful sign reads, “All Gender Restroom.” Below, it cheerfully proclaims, “All are welcome to use our restroom regardless of gender identity or expression, political ideology, or shoe size.” The sign hangs beneath an embossed seal of the State of Washington, accompanied by the words “Welcome, Please Come In.” She announced the open-door policy on Instagram during her second week in Congress. “There’s been a lot of chatter here on the hill about who’s allowed to use the bathrooms and where, which is weird, frankly, but I want to make sure that anyone who comes to visit the People’s House has access to the things that they need to be comfortable and to advocate for the issues that matter to them,” she said in the video, adding, “So if you need to go to the bathroom while you’re here in D.C., you can use ours.”
Rep. Emily Randall is concerned with a lot more than just gender-neutral bathrooms. What is she like as a new representative? How has she lined up on critical votes in her short tenure? All this and more will be explored below the fold.
Personal History
Rep. Emily Randall is a queer Latina and one of many LGBTQ+ firsts in the 119th Congress.
Rep. Emily Randall was born in Bremerton, Washington on October 30, 1985. Her mother was a white paraprofessional in a local public school and her father was a Chicano shipyard worker. She had a sister named Olivia with microcephaly which is a smaller than normal head. Thus the small family had to be on Medicaid to cover the large medical costs of caring for someone with that condition. She constantly referred to her sister in the Budget of Abominations debate that slashed Medicaid.
x Medicaid helped to keep my sister Olivia alive for 19 years. Medicaid ensured my family could keep a roof over our head and ensure Olivia got the health care she needed. This program is essential for families all across the country, no matter where they live or their political affiliation.
[image or embed] — Rep. Emily Randall (@repemilyrandall.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Despite all of the attention Olivia needed, Emily Randall was able to become the first person in her family to graduate from college. She attended Wellesley College and got a degree in Spanish and Women’s Studies. Randall would spend some time working at Boston Children’s Hospital and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation where she advocated for health care and education.
She jumped into politics in 2018, running for a state senate seat that covered her hometown of Bremerton. She squeaked by with a 104 vote win in one of the closest elections in Washington state that year. Randall would go on to win 51% of the vote in her re-election campaign in 2022. In Olympia, she was a champion of behavioral health, reproductive health, public safety, and affordable housing.
Randall is happily married to her wife of 19 years named Alison Leahey. Her wife works as a carpenter. Also of note is that Randall listed “none” as her religion. “None” is the fastest growing religious group in the United States but it is greatly underrepresented in the halls of Congress. Her background and demographics prime her to be one of the most progressive legislators in Congress.
Issue Positions and Work in Congress
Rep. Emily Randall has gone from being in the majority in the Washington state senate to being a member of the minority in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Emily Randall has a DW Nominate score of -0.684, which puts her as one of the most progressive legislators in the 119th Congress. She’s more liberal than 99% of the entire House of Representatives and 98% of her fellow Democrats. Progressive Punch concurs, giving her a 97% “A” rating for her votes. The only reason she isn’t at 100% is she’s missed a few votes and that’s taken into account by that scoring system. She’s the type of quiet progressive legislator we need more of!
Given that she only has nine months under her belt, it would be extraordinary to expect her to have been the primary sponsor of any legislation that has been signed into law. That’s especially true given she’s in the minority in the House of Representatives. She is the primary sponsor of 7 bills and has co-sponsored 108 bills or resolutions.
Her most significant proposed piece of legislation so far is the ANCHOR For Military Families Act. This legislation would amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to provide information on relocation assistance programs when a member of the Armed Forces receives orders for a change of permanent station, and for other purposes. This mirrors legislation she supported in the Washington state senate that was signed into law.
Rep. Emily Randall sits on the Committee on Natural Resources as well as the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Natural Resources in particular is important in a district that contains indigenous reservations, national parks, logging interests, and other natural resources. Oversight gives her a higher profile than would otherwise be possible for a freshman legislator.
Randall has been part of a group of legislators doing town halls both in her own district and in other districts. She’s done one in Spokane on the eastern side of the state for instance.
Randall's town halls have also been well attended. A town hall held at the Olympic College theater in Bremerton reached capacity at least ten minutes before its scheduled start time with at least a hundred people still waiting in line to get in. A second town hall was arranged to accommodate the large crowd. At another town hall held at Hilltop Heritage Middle School in Tacoma a week earlier, a packed house of around 400 people asked why the Congresswoman and Democrats were not doing more to stand up to the Trump administration. Randall told the frustrated crowd she too was upset but, emphasizing there was not a lot of action available to the minority party. That response did little to placate the crowd, who yelled “Garbage!” Later on another man accused the majority of Democrats of being “mice.” Randall also took the unusual step of holding a town hall in Spokane in April, alongside the city’s mayor and the chair of the state’s Democratic Party, according to the Spokesman Review newspaper. The city is in the Fifth Congressional District, represented by Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a freshman Republican. Supporters of Randall have praised the Congresswoman for her communication and savvy social media use. She frequently updates them about what is going on at the capitol through short, Tik-Tok-style reels, they say. “I believe her to be one of the most communicative congresspeople,” Lucid said. “She’s a very good story teller.”
Just last week she tried to conduct oversight on the two firefighters detained by the American Gestapo. She was denied entry.
Just days after two crew workers helping battle Washington’s largest wildfire were arrested by Border Patrol, Washington Rep. Emily Randall — who represents the district where the men are being held — was denied entry to the facility, calling the situation “disgusting” in an interview with CNN affiliate KOMO. “This would have been my fourth visit yesterday to the ICE facility in Tacoma, there in my district,” Randall told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday. “I had done two previous announced visits and one previous unannounced visit, which is the statutory authority of Congress, the oversight body of ICE and Homeland Security.”
Rep. Emily Randall has weathered the ups and downs of her first year quite well but even she is worn out and disgusted by the chaos unfolding during the Trump regime.
Congressional Chronicle: Week of September 1, 2025
The latest on Capitol Hill when it comes to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Tuesday, September 2
x By a vote of 84-14, the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 2296, NDAA. Senators voting no: Baldwin, Booker, Kennedy, Markey, Merkley, Padilla, Paul, Sanders, Schatz, Smith, Van Hollen, Warren, Welch, and Wyden. Senators Scott (SC) and Tillis did not vote. — Senate Press Gallery (@senatepress.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Wednesday, September 3
Rep. Jimmy Gomez held the first National Summit on the Housing Affordability Crisis. Minority Leader Jeffries and many members of the CHC spoke at this summit.
x TUNE IN: I’m LIVE with Leader @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social and my democratic colleagues to announce our unified democratic effort to address the housing crisis.
x.com/i/broadcasts...
[image or embed] — Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@gomez.house.gov) September 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
x 🏠 The National Summit on the Housing Affordability Crisis is LIVE!
Tune in as leading voices in housing policy come together to tackle America’s growing affordability crisis head-on. youtube.com/live/3hY6I6T...
[image or embed] — Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@gomez.house.gov) September 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
x We are back! Tune in now to hear from leaders, advocates, and policy experts at the first-ever National Summit on the Housing Affordability Crisis.
youtube.com/live/lgtZ_Jg...
[image or embed] — Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@gomez.house.gov) September 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
The House voted to pass the rules package for the week. H. Res 672 was passed (212/208/1/10) with the entire CHC voting NAY.
The House FAILED to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver and kick her off of her committees. H. Res 539 was tabled (215/207/2/7) with the entire CHC voting AYE.
x House Democrats just defeated this attempt by Republicans to censure Rep. McIver and remover her from the House Committee on Homeland Security. Final vote:
[image or embed] — Aaron Fritschner (@fritschner.bsky.social) September 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The House voted for H.J. Res 104 — rejecting rules made by the Bureau of Land Management. The resolution was passed (211/208/12) with the entire CHC voting NAY.
The House voted for H.J. Res 106 — rejecting rules made by the Bureau of Land Management. The resolution was passed (215/210/6) with the entire CHC voting NAY.
The House voted for H.J. Res 105 — rejecting rules made by the Bureau of Land Management. The resolution was passed (215/211/5) with the entire CHC voting NAY.
Thursday, September 4
The House voted to pass H.R. 4553 — The Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2026. The bill was passed (214/213/4) with the entire CHC voting NAY.
The House is adjourned until Monday, September 8.
x The #Senate invoked cloture on the nomination of Maria Lanahan to be a District Judge for Eastern Missouri on a party line vote of 53-45. Not voting: Booker & Sanders. Now: voting on cloture on Edward Artau to be a District Judge for Southern District of Florida. One further vote at 1:45 p.m. — Senate Press Gallery (@senatepress.bsky.social) September 4, 2025 at 12:16 PM
x By a vote of 53-46, The #Senate invoked cloture on Edward L. Artau to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Party line vote with Senator Welch not voting. — Senate Press Gallery (@senatepress.bsky.social) September 4, 2025 at 12:53 PM
x By a vote of 83-13, the Senate agreed to the motion to proceed to the consideration of S. 2296. Senators voting no: Baldwin, Booker, Markey, Merkley, Padilla, Paul, Sanders, Schatz, Smith, Van Hollen, Warren, Welch, and Wyden. Senators not voting: Blackburn, Capito, Hagerty, Scott (SC) — Senate Press Gallery (@senatepress.bsky.social) September 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The Senate is adjourned until 3PM on Monday, September 8.
Along with Rep. Sarah McBride and (sadly likely outgoing) Rep. Julie Johnson, Rep. Emily Randall is a part of a group of exciting firsts in LGBTQ+ representation. Don’t think for a second though that this defines who she is. She has shown herself to be one of the most progressive legislators in the short time she has been in office. Keep an eye on her growth in Congress as I predict she’s going places.
The CHC Roundup is a diary series meant to highlight the contributions of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the Democratic Party. These 43 members of Congress range from members of the Squad to the most conservative members of the party. The series will run every Saturday morning, at 8:00AM.
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