Republican · Washington's 5th District · 2026
Michael Baumgartner
Baumgartner met his wife, Eleanor, while they were working on a civilian counternarcotics program in Afghanistan.
Biography
Michael Baumgartner met his wife, Eleanor, while working on a civilian counternarcotics program in Afghanistan. They now live in Spokane with five children, with a family calendar that includes sports, scouts, music and time outdoors.12 He grew up around Colton and Pullman, the son of a schoolteacher and a Washington State University forestry professor.2
He earned an economics degree at Washington State and a public administration master's at Harvard.1 Before elected office, he worked summers for the Forest Service, volunteered in Mozambique and served at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.2 His Iraq and Afghanistan assignments were civilian government and advisory roles.1
Baumgartner spent eight years in Washington's Senate and six as Spokane County treasurer before entering Congress in 2025.2 In the legislature, he worked on college tuition reductions and establishment of Washington State's Spokane medical school. As treasurer, he oversaw the county's public investment fund.2
His congressional agenda includes preserving Snake River dams, hydropower and Columbia Basin water resources, supporting Fairchild Air Force Base, reducing taxes and regulation, and strengthening border security.2 He is seeking a second term against Democrat Carmela Conroy, whose career also included diplomacy and who is campaigning on economic opportunity, care and congressional oversight of the other branches of government.3
Record and controversies
Disputed statements at September debate
About both candidates: Michael Baumgartner and Carmela Conroy
At the September 21, 2026, debate, Conroy denied using the word “beheading” about the Department of Homeland Security, saying she had called for it to be dismembered. The Spokesman Review reported that she had called for dismantling and beheading DHS at its July candidate forum. The dispute concerned her language about restructuring the agency.4 At an earlier televised forum, she criticized DHS immigration enforcement and explained her changed position.5
At the same September 21 debate, Baumgartner said there were no cuts to legal immigrants' health coverage. The newspaper challenged that assertion, citing Washington Health Care Authority guidance that the 2025 tax and spending law would remove coverage for some refugees, parolees and other lawfully present immigrants in October. Baumgartner defended work requirements and restrictions on public spending for undocumented immigrants, rather than addressing the specific eligibility changes for legal immigrants.4