Protest Planned For McMorris Rodgers Fundraiser In Bellevue

BELLEVUE, WA - U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Spokane, will attend a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser in Bellevue Thursday night, but a group of progressive activists are planning to show up to protest. McMorris Rodgers was the only Washington state member of Congress to vote for the recent American Health Care Act (ACHA), which is estimated to force up to 23 million (and more than 300,000 in Washington state) off health insurance by 2026. The progressive Hear Our Voices coalition, which includes labor groups and women's health care groups, will rally in front of the fundraiser venue in Bellevue to let McMorris Rodgers know they disagree with her vote.

"The contrast is that [the ACHA] will take away health insurance from 20 million Americans while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthy. She's going to this high-dollar fundraiser for people she just cut taxes for," Fuse Washington Communications Director Collin Jergens told Patch. Fuse is working with Hear Our Voices to organize Thursday's Bellevue protest. There's also a protest set for outside McMorris Rodgers' office in Spokane set to kick off at noon Thursday.

Patch has reached out to McMorris Rodgers' office for comment. We will update this post if we hear back. She has said that estimates of the ACHA's impacts don't "tell the whole story when it comes to the benefits of this bill." She claims that the ACHA will lower premiums and reduce the federal deficit.

The McMorris Rodgers fundraiser in Bellevue kicks off at 5 p.m. at Daniel's Broiler, located on the 21st floor of the Bellevue Square building downtown. The fundraiser is co-hosted by McMorris Rodgers' American Dream Project PAC and the Microsoft PAC.

The activists set to rally in Bellevue Thursday have come from McMorris Rodgers' 5th Congressional District in Eastern Washington, and includes members of groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

McMorris Rodgers is the chair of the House Republican Conference, and is the highest-ranking woman Republican.

Image via Cathy McMorris Rodgers