Carmela Conroy - Congressional Candidate (WA 5th District)

October 24, 2026 — Washington's 5th Congressional District candidate Carmela Conroy sits down to share about her deep Palouse roots and long career of service. The discussion tackles the pressing regional challenges facing Eastern Washington communities, from the economic friction of minimum-wage disparities along the Idaho border to the vital need to protect Medicaid funding for rural critical access hospitals. Conroy outlines her vision of balancing conservative preservation with progressive opportunities, touching on predictable trade regimes for Palouse agricultural exports, balanced oversight of regional data center growth, and the importance of funding and maintaining the Lower Snake River dams. https://conroy4congress.com/ 00:00 Road to Pullman 02:06 Education 03:19 Foreign Service 04:26 Time in Japan 05:40 Working for Tom Foley 11:26 Getting into politics 13:50 Back to Eastern Washington 16:09 Pandemic challenges 18:55 Vaccine mandates 20:51 What do you wish we had done differently? 21:23 Vision for Eastern Washington 23:18 Minimum wage 26:40 Federal minimum wage 28:16 Medicaid 30:14 Social safety net 32:01 Burdens on small businesses 34:49 Unions 35:25 Small business challenges 36:50 Millionaires Tax 37:40 Schwietzer and incentivizing innovators to stay 41:20 Income inequality 42:38 Local agriculture 46:15 Price fixing and minimum wage 48:10 Data centers 51:05 Transportation issues 51:54 Snake River Dams 56:45 Shaking up Congress