Andrew Bartleson rejects ‘blue suits’ in his independent, longshot bid for Congress

This is the first of 12 profiles of the candidates running for U.S. House in the 5th Congressional District in Eastern Washington. Andrew Bartleson, an auditor for the state Department of Labor and Industries and independent candidate to represent Eastern Washington in Congress, admits his is a longshot bid for office.

“I don’t want to be sitting around 20 years from now, and things have gotten worse, and know that I didn’t try,” Bartleson said. “Win or lose, I’m gonna be able to be proud that I went and stood up.”

And if, despite the odds, he manages to win in a crowded field against an incumbent, then “Disney’s gonna write a movie about me,” he joked.

Bartleson has no political experience and fundamentally frames himself as being different from the kinds of candidates that seem purpose-built to run for higher office – he’s a “regular guy,” and one who doesn’t take himself too seriously, as evidenced by the multiple photos prominently displayed on his campaign website where he and others wear graphic T-shirts that show Bartleson with a mullet, the kind of 1970s mustache that occasionally seems to come back into style, wearing nothing but bottoms only slightly more modest than a Speedo.

He has cut the mullet and shaved the ’stache since taking that photo. His wife has also advised him not to wear the shirt to public appearances, but he’s less sure.

“How am I going to stand out?” he said. “If I’m wearing a blue suit up there like everybody else, and just repeating the same thing they are, why am I there?”

A “pretty progressive dude,” Bartleson is running as an independent because he believes the Democratic Party lacks backbone and that Democratic politicians are more concerned about what’s good for the party than what’s good for the people they represent. He points to the watering down of “Obamacare” to win the support of Republicans who have spent more than a decade attempting to undo the legislation, or to the failure of the party to force an open presidential primary during 2024 despite concerns about Biden’s age.

He admires figures like Kentucky Republicans Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, not because he agrees with them ideologically, but for their willingness to run counter to party leadership.

He believes the U.S. should shift to a universal healthcare coverage system as the “ultimate goal,” but in the meantime, Congress should mandate that health insurance plans also cover dental and eye care. He noted that annual family premiums for employer-provided health insurance are over $25,000.

“And then you get a toothache, you go to your dentist, you need to get yourself a root canal, a crown – $1,200 bucks out of pocket, and that doesn’t even count your deductible. That’s insane.”

Bartleson believes the system is rigged, whether that is the economy – D.C. loves corporate welfare but does little for the poor, he says – or the healthcare system. He says treatment for opioid use disorder, for instance, is reliant on tools like Suboxone and methadone because they’re expensive and don’t work, while the healthcare establishment suppresses or at least disregards more effective treatments like buffered vitamin C.

The research on vitamin C’s use for relieving withdrawal symptoms is limited, particularly compared to the extensive literature backing FDA-approved withdrawal treatments. No medical professional contacted by The Spokesman-Review would comment on this story, given its political nature.

So while Bartleson is not skeptical of vaccines, he understands where that skepticism comes from. It’s a running theme as Bartleson describes his political philosophy, empathizing with anxieties that he does not personally share. He noted a workshop in the Labor and Industries office where employees were asked to introduce themselves, and a coworker who was offended by the request to list his pronouns.

“He felt like it wasn’t necessary for him … but now he’s the one being stood out in a negative light,” Bartleson. “And I also understood that you don’t want to single somebody out that goes by they/them. And we just talked it out, and I think a lot of folks wouldn’t have that kind of conversation without getting angry or frustrated.”

A late arrival to the race – Bartleson was one of the many who announced a bid for this seat during filing week, the legal deadline – and without substantial funds raised, he has comparatively struggled to get in front of voters. Absent from forums or debates that invited only the early-bird candidates, he has taken instead to social media. He’s frequently found on Reddit, for instance, positioning himself against the “blue suits” he’s competing with.

He wants to reassure voters that he won’t dress up as something he’s not. However, after sending a campaign photo to The Spokesman-Review, he asked to replace it a few days later with a better-composed, more professional shot. In that replacement photo, he is wearing, of all things, a blue suit.