Community Government

Randall fields questions from youth at Gig Harbor town hall

During an hourlong town hall focused on youth issues at Gig Harbor High School on May 27, U.S. Rep. Emily Randall mostly fielded friendly questions from students across Washington’s Sixth Congressional District. 

The students — many of them members of Randall’s Youth Leadership Council — asked about subjects like protecting the environment, college affordability, the rise of artificial intelligence, and how young people can get involved in politics. 

But during a largely cordial exchange with students and others who gathered in the GHHS cafeteria on Wednesday, Randall struck an ominous tone about the upcoming midterm elections. 

“I think this is potentially our last chance to have free and fair elections. If we don’t preserve free and fair elections this year, we may not have the opportunity to have them again,” Randall, D-Bremerton, told a crowd of about 100 people. “I don’t say that to be hyperbolic, I just think it’s true.” 

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, makes a point during a town hall at Gig Harbor High School on May 27, 2026. Photo by Vince Dice

Midterm elections

Randall, a freshman member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is seeking a second term in this year’s election. She drew a field of four challengers — a Republican, a “Trump Republican,” an independent and one candidate who filed under “states no party preference.”

But her seat is generally a safe one for Democrats. Only one Republican has ever won in Washington’s Sixth District, which includes Gig Harbor, Kitsap County, the Olympic Peninsula and parts of Tacoma. That was Thor Tollefson of Tacoma, who served from 1947 to 1965.

Still, Randall sees possible threats to the Nov. 3 general election. She encouraged people to volunteer as elections monitors and said Democratic Party leaders around the nation are working to ensure the election proceeds as normal.

Randall said the Trump administration’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Democrat-led cities is “an intimidation tactic” designed to keep minority citizens away from the polls.  

Violence last winter in Minneapolis, Randall said, was “about creating a pathway to federalize the national guard and federalize elections.” 

Youth Council questions

Most of the topics covered in the town hall were more optimistic. In response to questions from members of her youth council, Randall touted her efforts on their behalf. 

She criticized federal “attacks on the Department of Education” and called for more investment in student grant and loan forgiveness programs.

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, and members of her Youth Leadership Council at Gig Harbor High School on May 27, 2026. Photo by Vince Dice

She called for a “windfall tax” on oil company profits amid rising gasoline prices and promoted her Equal Parks Act. The parks bill would prevent the National Parks Service from “trying to whitewash … our history,” Randall said. 

Randall, a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced the legislation after the National Parks Service removed references to slavery and LGBTQ+ history from its website.

One student asked what Congress is doing to regulate AI, which has the potential to disrupt the national economy just as a new generation attempts to enter it.

“It’s scary for a lot of lawmakers,” Randall said. “I’ve been in a lot of briefings where my colleagues can’t really wrap their heads around the broad implications of what AI can do. Some people say, just (put) a moratorium on all of it. That isn’t really going to work. 

“I don’t know what the bill is yet. There are a lot of different ideas. A lot of things are moving forward this Congress, but it’s not going to be just one policy.”

‘What is the game plan?’

Only one questioner echoed the more aggressive tone of Randall’s first Pierce County town hall, in March 2025. 

A young man — he described himself as in college — listed a series of issues he is passionate about, including the Epstein files and President Trump’s recently announced $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to benefit people who feel they were aggrieved by previous Justice Departments. 

“So my question to you is, what is the Democratic Party doing? What is the game plan to get some justice? When it comes to environmental justice, when it comes to AI, when it comes to wealthy corporations … can we hold anybody accountable?” he asked. 

Randall responded by lamenting the limited power of minority Democrats in the House.

And she said the media isn’t covering Democrats’ successes, both in the federal courts system and in forcing the release of many of the Epstein files.

“The fight will continue,” Randall said. “It is frustrating, and I get it. I wish we had more tools, but we’ll continue using the legal avenues that we have until we have another democratic election to shift the balance of power.” 

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, listens to a question from a member of her Youth Leadership Council during a town hall at Gig Harbor High School on May 27, 2026. Photo by Vince Dice