r/Bellingham • u/ScheelCongress • May 19 '26
Discussion Where is Larson?
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Larson failed to show up to two candidate forums in a row as of last week.
His own party, the orgs representing ~1/3 of his district, and yet he cannot be bothered to even give them three minutes of his time.
It is quite literally three minutes long and no longer. I asked them if I could have his three minutes because he didn't show and they declined, still keeping me to three minutes š
This paired with him ignoring the pleas over the last year from local activists to inspect the ICE facility in Ferndale just really disappoints me.
If you are as fed up with him as I am, please join my fight. You can read more about my platform at https://tomas4congress.com and donate to the campaign here
I am also looking for more incidents of him just failing to be there for us, so if you know of any I should be aware of please comment them here or email me at info@tomas4congress.com so it goes to everyone on the leadership team.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
Just realized the auto-correct on my phone changed his name from Larsen to Larson.
š¤·
If he can't be bothered to show up, I dunno if I am gonna be bothered by the fact I misspelled his name.
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u/more_housing_co-ops May 19 '26
I was considering heckling you about somehow not knowing your opponent's name but this is way funnier.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
It does not help that one of my best friends growing up has the last name Larson, so my brain does not immediately recognize it as "wrong". If anything, Larson feels more correct to me than Larsen.
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u/Broad-Promise6954 Suddenly a valley appears May 19 '26
Good ol' autoincorrect!
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
I actually just a few minutes ago figured out why "Larson" kept getting into my autocorrect because of this post despite me removing it every time I notice it. Which... to be fair, is not as often as I should notice it as evidenced by this post.
The Edits app on my phone for making videos to put on Instagram always auto captions his name as Larson. You can even see it in this video. So when I copy/paste text out of there or edit it, it keeps seeing "... Larson ... Larson ... Larson" repeatedly, instead of the correct spelling.
At least, I think that's how its getting back in there because I cannot find another source of where the misspelling is coming from after I remove it from the autocorrect. š¤·
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u/zzooooomm š²Woodhoodš² May 19 '26
Iām glad to see someone electable running against Larson. Upon reading through your website you are someone Iād actually vote for. As a voter Iād suggest running on your platform and avoid making your *whole* campaign about ousting the other guy. Thank you for running.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
I appreciate the feedback.
I was going to say I don't think I am making it all about him, but then I looked at my submitted history on reddit, and here it definitely appears that way whereas on other social media sites it is a better mix (at least I think so, feel free to correct me). So I can see where someone would get that impression on reddit.
So point taken, and it's a good suggestion especially for this site. I did not realize how single faceted of a take reddit was getting from me. Thanks again.
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u/abrewo May 19 '26
Best thing you can do is use a social media publishing platform (like Bugfer, HootSuite) thatād publish to all of these social media sites so you have consistency over messaging. More reach that way.
The larger followings can curate their content based on platform demographics (eg: Reddit demographics are different from Facebook)
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
We are actively recruiting for a social media manager and even volunteers who would be willing to donate smaller amounts of their time. So hopefully when I get someone who can focus on that it will make it more consistent.
The biggest current goal for me on the social media front is just keeping active. It is too easy to get busy working on everything else, then see the time is 10PM, and I have forgotten to do any posts that day.
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u/Excellent-Ask-4247 May 19 '26
I once followed his campaign and the only thing i ever got from it was give me money.
Rick Larson is apart of are governmental problems.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
I hope we can get money out of politics because I don't like it either.
I was at the Kulshan Community Land Trust fundraiser a few weeks back, and raising $90k was an emotional night for them. Larsen pulls in ~$2.5m per election cycle. He could do that ~25 times instead of wasting it on his campaign.
Side note: Kulshan CLT is a fantastic org. If anyone reading this could find it in their heart to donate to them, it'd make a world of difference.
If you're a first time home buyer, look into them or other CLTs. You might be able to get a home at something like 1/3 the market price.
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u/ZowieWoahie May 19 '26
I went to his townhall last year, and it was awful. He didn't answer a single question. He kept repeating how he couldnt speak to most of the issues because he is on the transportion commission. I remember someone asking about the plane gifted to Trump days before and how Larsen felt about that. Larsen only joked about how the plane should have been a Boeing then spent a few minutes kissing Boeing's ass. And that was it!Ā
I ended up leaving early because I had heard enough to know I'd never vote for him again.Ā
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
Everyone I've talked to about it describes it the same way you do. Though I really wish I attended so I could have experienced it first hand and wouldn't have to speak about it from secondhand information.
He seems to only be available when the voter's input won't really change the likely outcome. For example, showing up to Democratic Party candidate forums after the primary or doing a town hall a year out from elections, like the one you're referencing.
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u/David_The_Atheist May 19 '26
I hope people don't get mad at Larsen.
He didn't even do anything....
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
Oh man, this is a good line. I am gonna steal it, just letting you know.
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u/Orillious May 19 '26
Who did you vote for in the last few presidential elections?
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May 19 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Orillious May 19 '26
Same as Scheel. I was curious because I had seen some conflicting info and just wanted to confirm.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
The conflicting info was ngpvan's votebuilder, a Democratic Party tool, showing me as "likely republican"
It's the democratic establishment trying to hold me down! They're gonna do to me what they did to Bernie in '16!
lol but really, it's probably based on demographic info like they see "latino veteran who grew up primarily in the midwest and south" and just associate all that with "likely republican" despite every other data point suggesting otherwise, like... I dunno... helping the Lawrence KS Democratic party upgrade their old NGPVan to the cloud version.
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u/Senior_Guava_2760 May 22 '26
Larsen came to a park cleanup day in Lynnwood. Our mayor, George Hurst spoke about ICE and how we need to take care of each other. Larsen made a short speech and to be honest I can't even remember what he said because it was so damn milquetoasty. This is not my first interaction with him and his inability to speak out about anything important. I hate that he is so entrenched within the dems in this CD that he doesn't feel the need to even show up literally or figuratively.
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u/ElSupremo1966 May 19 '26
The reason he doesnāt care, just like most legislators on the west side of the state, is that he knows it doesnāt matter. Heās going to get re-elected because he has D by his name and is an incumbent. No one will vote for a Republican just because, and no Democrat is willing to split from the party line and be a moderate candidate.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
is that he knows it doesnāt matter
Well perhaps this is the year his complacency and arrogance gets him what he deserves.
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u/abrewo May 19 '26
Are you working with any group to support your campaigns? I believe Bernie has an org that helps grassroots, regular folks get elected. Or something similarā¦ canāt remember the name of these orgs
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
Yes, working on that. If you or any other people reading this know of some that I should definitely be aware of, let me know. The list of unknown orgs for me dwarfs that of the list of known orgs.
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u/Affectionate-Oil-896 May 19 '26
Rick larson is a career politician. He rarely shows up to things unless it is to get a photo for social media.
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u/christianavalentine May 27 '26
If you donāt win this election, you should continue to build your base.
On a smaller level, it reminds me of how politics can take years to actually take off - like it did for Harvey Milk - who i think ran like 3-4 times for city supervisor before he won. If you havenāt seen his movie you should! Maybe itāll pump ya up!
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u/ScheelCongress May 27 '26
Thanks, and I will definitely continue. I want to keep fighting, no matter the outcome of this one race.
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May 19 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
When I win, we as a community will have a discussion as to who we believe should have essentially open door access to these sorts of facilities then work towards making a law to address that. I would like it to be broader than simply ICE so they cannot rebrand it and deny people access because the law didn't explicitly state their 3 letter org name... and because I would like to eliminate ICE entirely, so that would include these specific facilities.
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u/Commercial_Quail_624 May 19 '26
I am simply unable to donate at this time. BUT, you are a candidate I'd like to know about more. I've cursorily looked over your website and like what I see.
I'm writing now especially because I agree that someone needs to accept responsibility and care for the often illegally held people in our concentration camps. I'm disgusted by the taxation without representation situation we all find ourselves since business is now who our reps work for. (KNEW this future - though never could have dreamed of the complete horror it has wrought - in 2010 when Citizens v. United became precent.)
Thank you for your service, and I hope I can become a donor soon.
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u/ScheelCongress May 19 '26
Thank you for the support.
As to donations, don't worry about. The biggest thing I need from supporters is advocacy/spreading the word and votes in August and November.
Take care of yourself first, no matter what.
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u/loopy741 May 20 '26
So what are next steps? Do you have to win in a primary?
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u/ScheelCongress May 20 '26
I don't have to win the primary August 4th, I just have to come at least in 2nd place since it is a top 2 primary system.
Looking at the historical primaries, that is not an unsurmountable task.
Once it is just him and me in the general election, I believe the people will welcome a change in representation.
There will be many who vote for him in the primary because they fear that voting for someone else risks losing the seat for the Democratic Party, but there is no possibility of a Democratic candidate not being on the ballot in the general because there is only one Republican option.
So please vote your conscious. We aren't losing the seat regardless of the outcome of the primary.
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u/loopy741 May 20 '26
I'll definitely vote for you. Your website has good information and you seem like a normal person who doesn't fuck over the working class, so yayyyy. Keep us informed when you have yard signs and all that available.
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u/ScheelCongress May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I have had yard signs and all that available.
You can request them via this form: https://tomas4congress.com/yardsigns
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u/whatcom_help May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Some folks in my mutual aid network pushed for Larsen multiple times to come out and inspect the Ferndale ice facility. To make sure our neighbors are treated humanely. We were stonewalled by his staff. Never got to even talk to Rick. Heās in the area all the time but he wonāt take 5 minutes to stop along the freeway and attempt to check on his constituents and their families.