Congressional Candidate Catherine Hildebrand: “I’m Going to Run Again”

<p>I sat down with former congressional candidate Catherine Hildebrand for a conversation that went way beyond the campaign. Catherine ran for Congress in Washington’s 1st Congressional District in 2026. She didn’t advance out of the primary, but during our conversation she made one thing very clear: <strong>she plans to run again.</strong></p><p>We talked about what she learned from running for Congress for the first time, what she thinks is broken about our political system, and why she believes everyday people need a much bigger voice in government.</p><p>One of the most personal parts of our conversation was healthcare.</p><p>Catherine shared that she lives with stage-four endometriosis and had to fly from Washington state to Boston for surgery because she couldn’t find an in-network specialist here. She told me it was actually cheaper to fly across the country, stay in a hotel while recovering, and fly home than it would have been to receive out-of-network care in her own state. That experience has deeply influenced the way she thinks about universal healthcare and access to medicine.</p><p>We also got into some big topics:</p><p>• Why she decided to run for Congress<br>• What it was like running a campaign with almost no money<br>• Going from registering as a Republican at 18 to eventually running as a Democrat<br>• Why she says “lobbying is bribery”<br>• Medicare for All and pharmaceutical patents<br>• Minimum wage, universal basic income and wealth taxes<br>• Billionaires, corporations and economic inequality<br>• Term limits and congressional accountability<br>• America’s two-party political system<br>• Democratic socialism<br>• Environmental policy and economic growth<br>• What she would do differently the next time she runs</p><p>One of the things I appreciate about long-form conversations is that we have time to get beyond talking points.</p><p>You don’t have to agree with Catherine.</p><p>You don’t have to agree with me.</p><p>That’s not the point of <strong>On The Record</strong></p><p>I want you to hear people explain what they believe, why they believe it, and how they arrived there. Then you can make up your own mind. And Catherine definitely gave us plenty to talk about. Toward the end of our conversation, I asked her what comes next.</p><p>Her answer was simple:</p><p><strong>She’s running again.</strong></p><p>I’m Tony Taylor, and this is On The Record.</p><p>Subscribe to the channel and let me know what you think about the conversation in the comments.</p><p><br></p><p>#OnTheRecord #CatherineHildebrand #WA01 #WashingtonPolitics #Congress #TonyTaylor</p>