I am not a Politician.
I am an Engineer.
My name is James Etzkorn and I’m running as an Independent to represent Washington’s 1st District. I am not a career politician looking for a promotion. I am an engineer, a father and a problem-solver who is tired of watching our government fail.
I was born and raised in Vancouver, WA and earned my Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Washington, later studying abroad to obtain a Master’s in Nanotechnology. I have over a decade of experience at large and small tech companies, holding over 50 patents and publishing papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
My commitment to the community runs deep. I have spent the majority of my adult life volunteering in education by mentoring science fair projects, tutoring math, starting the robotics team at Monroe High School and serving on the Monroe School District Board of Directors.
I govern much like I run engineering projects. I use data to make decisions and focus on outcomes. Too often, politicians declare victory simply by throwing money at a problem. That money goes through the bureaucratic machine and often gets absorbed by consultants and lawyers rather than solving the actual issue. There is no follow-up, and no incentive to deliver results.
I ask hard, straightforward questions that reveal if we are solving problems or just spending money:
What is the specific problem we are trying to solve?
What evidence do we have to support this solution?
What metrics will we be tracking?
How much does it cost and how long will it take?
How will we know if we’re on the wrong track?
We must break the cycle. We keep ping-ponging between Democratic and Republican control, expecting a different result. Republicans held the presidency, House, and Senate in 2017, then lost them. Democrats held them in 2021, then lost them. Now, Republicans hold them again, and the 2025 elections signal yet another swing is coming in 2026.
This constant swinging demonstrates a failing government. Our quality of life is eroding while we bounce between the same two options, only to be disappointed again. It is time to wake up. I am running as an Independent because we don't need another partisan soldier to perpetuate the culture wars. We need an engineer to solve problems.
In a polarized Congress, partisan representatives are forced to follow their party leaders. They prioritize power games over results. I don't answer to party bosses. I answer to you. As an Independent, I have the leverage to break the gridlock and force both sides to compete for our district's vote. There is power in the middle.
We cannot run a 21st-century economy with leadership stuck in the 20th century. As a new technological revolution unfolds, our leaders are stuck in the past making rules for technology they do not understand. We need a representative who understands the risks well enough to harness the benefits.
Career politicians are afraid of losing their jobs. I am afraid of losing our country. The buck stops here. Let’s get to work.
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Core Values
LIBERTY
I see the Constitution as our North Star. It was designed to protect citizens from their government, not to empower the government to micromanage citizens. Your medical decisions, your digital data and your private life are off-limits to federal bureaucrats.
Government must clear the path rather than clutter it. Its only job is to ensure a level playing field where the law is colorblind and every American is treated with the exact same dignity. Beyond that, the government should leave you alone.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Grievance is not a strategy. Blaming the other side fixes nothing. I approach governance by analyzing root causes and prototyping fixes. In the bureaucracy, we must measure success by problems solved instead of money spent. If a program fails its Key Performance Indicators, we don't fund it more. We fix it or shut it down.
For our communities, compassion requires rules. We cannot allow addiction and crime to erode our safety. I support a justice system that is swift and fair. We must enforce consequences for those who break the law and provide support to those with destructive habits contingent on progress.
We must empower the next generation to build the future. We must hold our schools, teachers and students accountable to equip every child with the tools to excel.
STEWARDSHIP
American success requires leaders who look at the big picture and make decisions for the long term instead of the next election cycle. We are currently borrowing from our children’s future to pay for today’s comfort.
Fiscal Stewardship ensures we don't hand the next generation a bankrupt nation. The only path to solvency is robust economic expansion that outpaces our ballooning debt.
Institutional Stewardship removes the perverse incentives of serving in Congress. To restore trust, we must ban individual stock trading for sitting members and implement Congressional term limits.
Environmental Stewardship protects our natural beauty. We must use sustainable methods that allow us to responsibly prosper while conserving our forests and waterways.