Evan Jones (Washington)
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Evan Jones (independent) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Washington's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on August 4, 2020.
Jones completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jones was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He earned his bachelor's degree from Kenyon College in 1982. He also did graduate study at the London School of Economics. His career experience includes helping to establish Tri-Cities Beautiful (tricitiesbeautiful.org).[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Washington's 4th Congressional District election, 2020
General election
General election for U.S. House Washington District 4
Incumbent Dan Newhouse defeated Doug McKinley in the general election for U.S. House Washington District 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dan Newhouse (R) | 66.2 | 202,108 |
 | Doug McKinley (D) | 33.6 | 102,667 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 488 | ||
| Total votes: 305,263 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House Washington District 4
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House Washington District 4 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dan Newhouse (R) | 57.4 | 101,539 |
| ✔ | | Doug McKinley (D) | 26.2 | 46,471 |
 | Sarena Sloot (R) | 6.7 | 11,823 | |
 | Tracy Wright (R) | 5.1 | 9,088 | |
 | Ryan Cooper (L) | 2.3 | 4,080 | |
 | Evan Jones (Independent) | 2.2 | 3,816 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 228 | ||
| Total votes: 177,045 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Evan Jones completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Jones' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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This is my first candidacy for public office.
Currently a Learning Consultant & Workplace Training Designer (learn-thrive.com) and a part-time airline crew member. Previously taught high school Civics and American Government and was a Headmaster (Principal) during 20 years as an educator. Also worked previously as an industry issues management executive and served as Director of Communications for the national organization, Keep America Beautiful.
Education
BA-Kenyon College (Ohio) in Sociology. Graduate studies at the London School of Economics (Policy & Planning).
Most Recent Community Service
Founder of Tri-Cities Beautiful (tricitiesbeautiful.org) a local nonprofit focused on volunteer-driven community improvement and neighborhood beautification (launching in Fall 2020).
- Ev's sole mission will be to serve as an innovative progress-maker in Washington, D.C. - working outside of the partisan scrum as a tireless coalition-builder and solution-finder.
- Instead of partisan grandstanding on "Cable News Issues", Ev will focus exclusively on developing policies and legislation that can make measurable differences in the everyday life of our communities and businesses.
- With regular, open-access briefings and unbiased citizen-education tools available to all constituents, Ev will empower citizens to make clear-headed judgments (and decisions) on their own regarding key issues of the day that impact their lives and work.
Health Care: Ev will lead real progress on health care in Congress by focusing on common ground where we know fixes can be made right now: In January 2021 let's expand the portability of personal insurance plans (public and private) without taking anyone's options away; let's fund universal access to basic wellness care through work; and let's design programs to help bolster the workplace safety, the career opportunities and the quality-of-work-life of our dedicated health care providers.
Economic Stimulation:Let's create innovative and accountable public sector efforts to unleash local ingenuity and workplace innovation. More federally funded micro-enterprise financing, shared-resource work-hubs and business startup learning programs in 2021 would be a good start.
Infrastructure: Beginning in January 2021 lets focus on grassroots improvements in roads and freight rail, shared agricultural assets (such as irrigation), Hydropower, Broadband and 5G expansion, and dispersed scientific research capacity (such as PNNL). We can make immediate impacts here in the Northwest.
Job Training/"Career Creation": In 2021 let's work to make adult workplace skill enhancement and professional development learning open to all much as we have provided free public schools for children since the late 1800s
Also:
Disaster Preparedness & Resilience
Path to Citizenship/Border Security.
Citizen-Driven Sustainability
Simplified & Equitable Taxation
Regulation Reform
Others
With Memorial Day as the launch date for this campaign, it has me thinking of the many soldiers who have mentored me and helped craft the citizen, spouse, father, leader, teacher and whatever else I have become in life, They shied away from war stories and weren't self-congratulatory for their time in uniform. Their impact was mainly in how they would consciously make service to others and entrepreneurial "progress-making" a key part of their everyday life: Their example taught me to be always-shrewd, ever-prepared, multi-capable, openly-communicative, and indefatigably-entrepreneurial in all I do. These five pillars now form the basis of my Campaign for Congress in 2020.
I always marveled at the knack of the old GIs to be always looking toward, seeking common ground, and avoiding petty squabbles. They seldom fought over who got the credit. I'm sure a lot of that came from their own feelings about surviving war and its horror - and honoring those who didn't come back from their foxholes.
So while we all remember the fallen this Summer, I hope we can also remember the legacies of all who survived combat and other wartime service and yet returned to fight the good fight during peacetime here at home. They were everyday heroes. The gift of their survival, their ongoing dedication to meaningful living and their ongoing service to the community has been a true and lasting memorial to those others who did not come home.
As I look to enter public service in Congress in these trying times - I want to always remember those pillars of service so ingrained in me by the veterans of World War I and II, Korea and Vietnam whom I was so privileged to learn from growing up. Because we are in fact at a critically important pivot point in our nation's history. Those "Greatest Generation" type ideals - like selflessness, dependability, openness, and a laser-focus on progress - are the guideposts I hope we will all use as we rethink the way Congress does business here in 2020.
The pertinent question is, "How would politics work if 'regular Joneses' like you and I were in charge?"
If you listen to the way people talk these days, most of us would probably answer this question in much the same way our nation's founders might have in the 1780s.
So what do we really want?
First and foremost, while doing the actual work of their office, an elected official in an ideal world would be non-partisan. Yes we all have points of view we believe in and prefer. But when it comes to the actual work of government, representatives have to be service-based and progress-oriented if anything of value to communities is ever going to get done.
Secondly, the elected official needs to carefully serve the interests of the communities that sent him or her to office. Why do I need a representative in office more interested in serving party bosses, VIP donors and media pundits than me?
Third: Stop wasting time on things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Focus on action over words, progress over politics.
Fourth, there is no way you have the monopoly on wisdom or common sense on any issue that matters to us. So seek out and then be willing to incorporate the best ideas from all sources into your vision. Build bridges instead of burning them. Any issue that is important enough for government to take action on is "all hands on deck".So make sure you listen actively to all perspectives.
Finally...make it your life's work to constantly give us the information we need to make the decisions that matter in our lives. Just give us the opportunity to weigh all the pros and cons and make choices for ourselves as we try and see that our families, businesses and communities prosper. Just give us solid facts and perspectives so we can thrive!
To my mind it all comes down to "the five pillars for public service": Be shrewd; Be prepared; Make yourself capable; Always openly communicate; And be ever entrepreneurial in seeking progress wherever it can be found
This is my first candidacy for public office. I have successfully interacted with all levels of the federal government while working in industry and in national non-profit organizations. But I can honestly say that it is the many middle and high school civics students whom I have taught through the years who have seasoned me best to help transform Congress into what it should be in 2020. To kids, basic common sense and a deep appreciation of fairness rules the day when it comes to figuring out how to get things done for people. I have found that it works for me too.
In the post-Covid age we have learned that we need representation in Washington that functions first, last and always to help families and businesses to thrive through both challenge and opportunity.
We need leadership that is shrewd, prepared, capable, communicative, and entrepreneurial. We need independent thinkers who give every constituent ready access to federal resources and policy making.
Can the partisan morass that is Congress in 2020 deliver this kind of leadership? Simply: If "regular Joneses" like you and I (whether you are conservative, moderate, or progressive) could transform Congress to make it work for us - what would we do?
Congress must now focus intently on progress, without putting a premium on who gets the credit. It must be service-driven and accomplishment-oriented. Representatives must now think, act, and legislate based on how policy and programs actually impact our workplaces and neighborhoods, not their own political prospects. They must commit focus to action over words, and measured progress over political gamesmanship. They need to use the best ideas from all sources - and actively build bridges toward all perspectives. Most important their chief service must now be to regularly provide constituents with reliable facts and diverse perspectives on key issues of the day, so we can make judgments and decisions that will help our families and businesses to thrive.
I am running as an independent for Congress in the 4th District because I believe the partisan process is thoroughly and irretrievably broken; it could never produce progress-oriented leadership and constituent service like this. But I sincerely believe we can break the grip of party politics and self-promotion in Congress and make our region a catalyst for a national resurgence at this unique moment in our history.
"Rabble in Arms" by Kenneth Roberts. This epic tale of the American Revolution was written in 1933. I first read it when I was 12 - my grandfather gifted it to me. I keep coming back to it because it speaks to so much of what has always gotten my heart racing: outdoor adventure, belief in something more than self, service to the community, comradeship, and the mighty American wilderness. (I hate to throw politics into this but I also love how it launches you into the inscrutable journey of Benedict Arnold, whose penchant for self-promotion and partisan dealing turned him from the great American military hero of 1777 to the eternal namesake for traitors ever since.
The House is meant to be a laboratory of innovation where the experience of "real people" in living communities is incorporated into national policies that give all Americans opportunities to thrive. It is truly meant to be the nation's "ear to the ground."
It's important that we ask ourselves if our current leaders are serving us in the ingenious ways The Founders had intended.
The House was structured specifically to seek and use the best ideas from all sources - to build bridges between perspectives, regions, cultures and communities. Representatives were meant to regularly give citizens access to solid facts and perspectives so that they could make rational political judgments and life decisions affecting the prosperity of their families or businesses.
I believe it is important that we seek that unique founding vision for Congress in 2020 by seeking to serve as innovative progress-makers - working outside of the partisan scrum as tireless coalition-builders and solution-finders. I think Representatives should provide regular, open-access policy briefings and unbiased citizen-education to constituents (instead of the thinly-veiled campaign propaganda we get now). I think Congress must fully open up the policy making process, and get all of the key information and diverse perspectives on issues out on the table in the open to make sure that data and sense - not campaign donations - drive future decision-making. We need less partisan grandstanding, and more focus on forward momentum no matter who gets the credit. We need focus on the kinds of policies and legislation that actually make differences in our everyday lives.
This is what has made the United States one of human history's most important laboratories of democracy: So let's demand a Congress that is keeping it positive every day; that is a reliable source of information and solutions; that is dedicated to service and committed to progress; and most of all that stays above the partisan fray.
For some time now we have been putting up with a model for political leadership that has not served the everyday interests of real American communities. Everyone knows that. Everyone you talk to seems to lament where the modern "political animal" has taken us these days.. We now have a political class that is only adept at perpetual re-election and negative political discourse, constant partisan grandstanding, disabling delay and obfuscation, even on pressing national matters if it serves partisan or personal interests.
But as we have navigated through the Coronavirus pandemic, a lot of us have been taking a hard look at the things in our lives - at what is important and what is not, about what matters and what does not, and about what serves us well, and what does not. Government is one of those things many have been looking at lately and asking, "What are we doing here?"
Clearly, we have learned that we do need competent government when we need it. We need leaders who above everything else can be shrewd, prepared, capable, communicative and entrepreneurial. We need open-minded and creative problem solvers. Above all, many are concluding that our representatives have to be progress-focused and accomplishment-oriented in all they do.
Being "good at re-election" is not what most Americans would desire in their political leader skill set. Being "effective at negative campaigning" is not a character trait many of us would wish for our children. Being "slavishly tied to the fortunes of your party instead of the progress of your nation" is hardly a motto to be etched in marble.
A number of politicians in both parties have truly stepped up during the Covid crisis and exhibited the shrewdness, preparedness, capability, communication and entrepreneurship it takes to get things done in diverse communities like ours. I think the ability to learn from their examples in the line of fire would be the most important grounding for a representative in the post-Covid age.
Information represents America's most vexing challenge and also its most promising global leadership opportunity.
The coronavirus pandemic revealed one devastating fact: The quality of the information we get thrown at us daily on key matters by our partisan political leaders, the national press outlets, and even by ranting "know-it-alls" everywhere on the Internet - just plain sucks. And Covid-19 is just one example of where this situation has led to devastating weaknesses in our community-preparedness and in our ability to thrive as a nation. Going forward, Americans need to demand better-quality and less-biased information from all sources so we can begin taking firmer control of the direction of our lives, businesses, and communities.
Let's start with Congress. We don't need perpetual partisan campaigning: We do need open-access through our representatives to information we can all use to make rational political, life and business judgments. Congress must now function as an information-hub for communities. It must provide reliable data and diverse, fact-based perspectives on every matter of importance to constituents so we can decide for ourselves how to thrive through the 2020s.
Information also presents important opportunities in the 2020s.
We know that the jobs we do today - the career paths that we each envision right now - could be drastically different in both nature and scope by 2030. So, workplace-skills-training and career-professional-development are going to be more important tools than ever for every American to compete and thrive in the emerging economy. We must work in 2020 to make free access to high-quality career learning programs as openly available to American working adults as our K-12 public schooling has been for our children since the 19th Century. This would be an opportunity for America to lead the world in preparing the most capable, most prosperous, and most professionally inspired adult workforce in human history.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 26, 2020.
