Candidate to represent Tacoma in Congress fires campaign manager after anti-Israel ‘likes’
Democratic Washington state lawmaker Emily Randall, who’s vying to represent Tacoma in Congress, recently fired her campaign manager after learning of the aide’s reportedly anti-Israel social media activity, according to a story June 24 from Jewish Insider.
The departure comes just more than a month before an Aug. 6 primary election in a contest to succeed Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer, who is not seeking reelection in Washington’s 6th Congressional District.
Asked to confirm the accounts reported by Jewish Insider and provided with an opportunity to offer any additional context June 25, Randall’s campaign declined.
“We have no additional comment on this personnel matter and you are welcome to quote from the story in Jewish Insider,” campaign consultant Erik Houser said in a statement to The News Tribune.
The outlet, which characterized the social media activity as “anti-Israel and pro-Hamas,” reported that the aide “liked” posts on Instagram that described Palestinian resistance as “a natural and praiseworthy response to Zionist occupation and brutality,” equated the terrorist group Hamas to the resistance and called for “the fall of the Zionist regime,” among other posts.
After Jewish Insider contacted Randall about the nature of the posts, the state senator said she had been unaware of the activity by her campaign manager, Anna Carlson-Ziegler. Randall then “made the decision to end their employment with our campaign” last week, she told the outlet, after speaking with the aide and confirming activity “consistent with what (the outlet) described.”
Further addressing her ex-aide’s social media interactions related to the politically charged Israel-Hamas war, Randall told Jewish Insider that she would stand with Israel and against antisemitism as a member of Congress. The Associated Press reported June 23 that Democratic members of Congress were considering not attending a scheduled address from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 24.
Randall, who has represented the 26th Legislative District north of Tacoma since 2018 and is currently the senate’s deputy majority leader, is facing off against four other candidates to replace Kilmer, including fellow Democrat Hilary Franz, the state’s Public Lands commissioner. Randall garnered the endorsement from Department of Natural Resources union employees working underneath Franz in May.
This story was originally published June 26, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
