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Emily Randall

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Emily Randall
Official House portrait of Randall smiling in front of the U.S. flag, wearing a pink shirt.
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2025
Preceded byDerek Kilmer
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 26th district
In office
January 14, 2019 – December 8, 2024[1]
Preceded byJan Angel
Succeeded byDeborah Krishnadasan
Personal details
Born
Emily Elissa Randall

(1985-10-30) October 30, 1985 (age 39)
Bremerton, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationWellesley College (BA)
WebsiteHouse website
Campaign website

Emily Elissa Randall[2] (born October 30, 1985)[3] is an American congressperson who is a U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district (representing the Olympic Peninsula, the Kitsap Peninsula, and most of the city of Tacoma. The district includes the entire county of Clallam as well as Kitsap, Mason, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor counties. She was previously elected twice to the Washington State Senate.[4][5] Randall is a member of the Democratic Party and succeeded Derek Kilmer (also a Democrat) in the U.S. House of Representatives.[4][5]

In January 2025, Randall became the first person of color, first woman, and first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to represent the WA-6 district in the U.S. House of Representatives.[6]

Early life and education

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Randall was born in the Kitsap Peninsula to a white mother who works as a paraeducator and a Chicano father who worked as a shipyard worker.[7][8] Raised in Port Orchard, Randall graduated from South Kitsap High School in 2004.[2] The first to graduate college in her family,[9] Randall graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and women's studies. Her sister, Olivia, was born with microcephaly resulting in severe developmental and physical disabilities.[10][11] Her family relied on Medicaid to help cover costs for her sister's healthcare that was not covered by her father's insurance.[11]

Randall worked at Boston Children’s Hospital and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation advocating for healthcare and education.[8]

Washington Senate (2019–2024)

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In 2018, Randall was elected to the Washington State Senate, defeating Republican challenger Marty McClendon by 104 votes.[12] In 2022, Randall won re-election to the Washington State Senate with around 51% of the vote.[13][14]

As senator, Randall focused on increasing access to better behavioral health and reproductive health, affordable housing, and public safety.[15][16] She served as whip for the state senate majority.[15]

In February 2019, she spearheaded and helped pass the Randall Bill that "allowed the children of service members who receive transfer orders to any base in Washington to enroll in school before they have an address in district" to help support their family's transition. “As we welcome the families connected to the USS Carl Vinson to Bremerton this year, we want to make sure that regardless of the makeup of your family or how soon you know that you’re coming to our community, we’ve cleared the ground for you.”[17]

In March 2022, Randall sponsored a bill to lower the toll to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge by 75 cents. The bill was passed and took effect in October of the same year.[18] Alongside Senator Claire Wilson, Randall was one of two openly LGBTQ+ women serving in the Washington State Senate.[4] Randall served in the senate’s Higher Education committee, Workforce Development Committee, and on the Health and Long Term Care and Transportation committee.[19]

U.S. House of Representatives (2025–present)

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Elections

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2024

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After U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer announced his retirement from Congress, Randall entered the race to succeed him. Washington's 6th congressional district which covers the Olympic Peninsula, the Kitsap Peninsula (including Naval Base Kitsap) and the majority of Tacoma. During her primary campaign, Randall was endorsed by several prominent Democrats including U.S. Senator Patty Murray, U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland, U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, and former governors Christine Gregoire and Gary Locke.[20]

In the 2024 open primary for Washington's 6th congressional district, Randall finished first ahead of[21] Republican state senator Drew MacEwan who also advanced to the general election ballot after finishing second.[21] Randall defeated MacEwan in the 2024 general election carrying 56.8% of votes.[5] On January 3, 2025, Randall became the first queer Latina to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.[22]

Tenure

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Before the start of the 119th Congress, Randall placed third in a three way race for freshman class representative for the Democratic Caucus that included Representative-elects Luz Rivas of California and Sarah Elfreth of Maryland.[23] In the first five months of Randall's tenure, she hosted numerous town halls to address constituents' anger and fear over the Trump administration's proposed changes to Medicaid. During a roundtable with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard union leaders, she listened to reports of how the Trump administration's efforts to fire federal employees had caused large disruptions, lowered morale, and led to increased turnover and plans for early retirement amongst senior employees.[11]

On January 22, 2025, Randall voted against the passage of the Laken Riley Act.[24] In response to the Protecting Women's Private Spaces Act, Randall posted an "All Gender Bathroom" sign outside of her office welcoming everyone to use her private restroom "regardless of gender identity or expression, political ideology or shoe size."[25] In her first speech on the House floor, Randall denounced House bill 28, the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025" that sought to ban trans women from playing on women's sports teams.[25]

Randall walked out of President Trump's Address to Congress on March 4, 2025 while Trump was speaking.[26] She noted, "That decision to walk out was not calculated. Instead, when Trump began uplifting a child cancer survivor while working with Republicans to pass Medicaid cuts that would gut funding for cancer research and children facing cancer, I could not sit through it anymore. I got into politics because I care about healthcare. We should be investing in our rural access healthcare.” She noted that many rural hospitals rely on Medicare and Medicaid to provide services and stay open. [27]

As a co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Randall re-introduced the Equality Act to ensure explicit nondiscrimination protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans. "Queer folks deserve the same rights and protections as every American...But instead of ensuring every American has the tools to build their futures, this administration is hyper-focused on taking away our rights and trying to erase our very existence. But our community cannot be written out of history – because history isn’t made without us, and the future is not built without us.”[28]

In May 2025, Randall introduced the bipartisan Assuring Navigation of Compact Help For Ongoing Relocation (ANCHOR) for Military Families Act along with Republican Rob Wittman of Virginia. The bill would help "ensure military families are informed of their educational rights, school enrollment support, and other key relocation resources—such as housing assistance, spouse employment support, and services through the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)—under the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) during Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves."[29]

In June 2025, Randall was one of the four Democrats who did not vote on the initial $9 billion rescission package put forward by the Department of Government Efficiency.[30] The bill targeted reversing $1.1 billion for public broadcasting and $8.3 billion in foreign aid. House Republicans narrowly passed the initial rescission package by 2 votes; however it was changed by the Senate to exclude cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Donald Trump had to re-submit the revised version to Congress in July. On July 18, Randall voted no.[31]

Committee assignments

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Caucus memberships

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Personal life

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Randall co-owns a home in Bremerton, Washington with her partner of 19 years, Alison Leahey, who works as a carpenter in construction.[25] The Pew Research Center reported that Randall responded "none" to their religion survey.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Demkovich, Laurel (November 22, 2024). "Three WA Senate Democrats are leaving their jobs. Here's what happens next". Washington State Standard. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "South Kitsap High School Graduating Class". Kitsap Sun. June 8, 2004. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  3. ^ "Washington New Members 2025". The Hill. December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "New Washington state legislators headed to Olympia in 2019". MyNorthwest, December 31, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Washington House District 6 General Election Results 2024". NBC News. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "Rep. Emily Randall". League of Latin American Citizens. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. ^ "Sound & Vision: Washington State Senator Emily Randall and the Music That Inspires Her". kexp.org. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Elect Emily Randall, Senate, LD 26". Washington Education Association. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  9. ^ "Congresswoman Emily Randall Visits Grays Harbor College". Grays Harbor College. February 5, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  10. ^ sdcadmin. "Biography". Sen. Emily Randall - Washington State Senate Democrats. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Wilson, Conor (May 30, 2025). "A first-year rep learns her Congressional role amid chaos of the Trump administration". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  12. ^ "November 6, 2018 General Election Results - Legislative District 26 - State Senator". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "Emily Randall". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  14. ^ "Republicans hit blue wall in WA: Meet your new state Legislature". The Seattle Times. November 21, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Dice, Vince (October 27, 2022). "Election profile: Randall vs. Young for state Senate". Gig Harbor Now. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Bajko, Matthew (October 10, 2022). "Political Notes: Queer Washington state senator with SF ties seeks 2nd term". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  17. ^ "Senate unanimously passes Randall bill to help relocating military families". WA Senate Democrats. February 20, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  18. ^ "Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolls will drop with the passage of this bill. Here's how, when". KIRO 7 News Seattle. March 14, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  19. ^ "Q&A: Sen. Emily Randall on higher education". Washington State Wire. September 22, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  20. ^ Averill, Owen (July 25, 2024). "Crypto-financed independent expenditure for Emily Randall turns heads in Washington State politics". NPI's Cascadia Advocate. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Washington Primary Election Results". NPR. August 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  22. ^ Yurcaba, Jo (January 3, 2025). "These three LGBTQ women just made congressional 'herstory'". NBC News. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  23. ^ Diaz, Daniella; Tully-McManus, Katherine; Wu, Nicholas (November 20, 2024). "The Gaetz fight heads to the House floor". Politico. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  24. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601. "Emily Randall (Washington (WA)), 119th Congress Profile". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ a b c Bajko, Matthew S. (February 6, 2025). "Queer Congressmember Randall adapts to new role". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  26. ^ "These 3 gay Congressmembers hate Donald Trump so much they walked out of his speech".
  27. ^ Maple, Emma (April 22, 2025). "Randall reflects on first 100 days". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  28. ^ "Randall Joins Equality Caucus Colleagues To Reintroduce The Equality Act". Congresswoman Emily Randall. April 29, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  29. ^ "Representatives Randall, Wittman Introduce Bipartisan Anchor For Military Families Act". Congressperson Emily Randall. May 21, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  30. ^ Times, The New York (June 12, 2025). "How Every House Member Voted on $9 Billion in Proposed Spending Cuts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  31. ^ "Statement: Congresswoman Randall Votes No On Republicans' Rescission Package". Congresswoman Emily Randall. July 18, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  32. ^ "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus. April 21, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  33. ^ Diamant, Jeff (January 2, 2025). "Faith on the Hill". Pew Research Center. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 6th congressional district
2025–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
420th 		Succeeded by
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