Kimberly Merle Schrier ( ; born August 23, 1968) is an American politician and former physician serving as the U.S. Representative from since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and career

Schrier was born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, graduating

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

with a degree in astrophysics. She attended the

University of California Davis School of Medicine The University of California Davis School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of California, Davis. Although the parent institution is near Davis, California, the medical school is in Sacramento, California. History Founded in 196 ...

, where she earned her

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

degree. She continued on to a residency at the

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

. Schrier's professional career as a

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

began in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...

, where she worked for one year before joining

Virginia Mason Medical Center Virginia Mason Medical Center is an integrated hospital, training and research facility located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was the founding location, in 1920, of the private, non-profit Virginia Mason health organization; in January 2021, the ...

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah Al ...

in 2001. While working at Virginia Mason, she became politically active, particularly on healthcare issues. In 2017, Schrier was dissatisfied with Congressman Dave Reichert's handling of the efforts to repeal and replace the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

and this, coupled with her frustration with the results of the 2016 elections, led to her decision to enter politics.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Schrier announced her candidacy to represent in August 2017, a year before the

jungle primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party ...

. She initially intended to challenge incumbent

Dave Reichert David George Reichert (; born August 29, 1950) is an American politician, veteran, and former sheriff who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2019. He is a Republican and is the former ele ...

, but the seat became open in September 2017 when Reichert announced he was retiring. She had decided to run after the 2016 election, making the expansion of Medicare and the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

the centerpiece of her campaign. No Democrat had ever been elected to represent the district and Reichert had been seen as a relatively safe incumbent, but his decision to retire left the seat as a potential Democratic pickup in an election year already leaning toward the Democratic Party. Schrier advanced from the top-two primary, narrowly defeating attorney Jason Rittereiser, and advancing to face Republican nominee

Dino Rossi Dino John Rossi (born October 15, 1959) is an American businessman and politician who served as a Washington State Senate, Washington State Senator thrice, from 1997 to 2003, in 2012, and again from 2016 to 2017. A Republican Party (United States ...

in the general election. The 8th district campaign attracted $25 million in spending, making it the most expensive in state history and one of the costliest nationally in 2018, including controversial

attack ad Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * ''Attack No. 1'', comic and ...

s from the Rossi campaign. One such ad, paid for by the

Washington State Republican Party The Washington State Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national United States Republican Party, headquartered in Bellevue. History Campaigns and elections Washington voters tend to support Democratic Party candidates, with ''The ...

, nicknamed Schrier "Dr. Tax" and depicted her holding a large stack of $20 bills. The ad was perceived as

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

, fulfilling stereotypes about Jewish greed. Schrier won the general election with 52% of the vote.

2020

Schrier ran for reelection. She advanced from the top-two primary in first place and faced the second-place finisher, Republican U.S. Army veteran and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

senior project manager Jesse Jensen. Schrier won the general election with 51.7% of the vote.

Tenure

During

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's administration, Schrier voted in line with the president's stated position 6.6% of the time. As of June 2022, Schrier had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research ** Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations *

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

** Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services ** Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education *

Committee on Energy and Commerce A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

Caucus memberships

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

Electoral history

Personal life

Schrier and her husband, David Gowing, have a son and live in

Sammamish, Washington Sammamish ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 67,455 at the 2020 census. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east. Sammamish is a resi ...

. Her grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Europe who arrived in the U.S. before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Schrier has

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar f ...

References

Footnotes

External links

Congresswoman Kim Schrier
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Schrier, Kim 1968 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians American pediatricians Women pediatricians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Female members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish women politicians Living people People from Issaquah, Washington People from Sammamish, Washington People with type 1 diabetes Politicians from Los Angeles Women in Washington (state) politics University of California, Davis alumni 21st-century American Jews