VOTE BAUMGARTNER FOR CONGRESS
Michael is
Eastern Washington
through and through
Mike and Eleanor along with their children, (from the left), Roman, Gaston, Conrad, Victoria, and Maria.
Mike addressing a crowd in the Washington State Capitol rotunda as a state senator.
Mike with WSU Coach Mike Leach, who became a friend as they traveled around the globe, shown here in Cambodia.
Mike in Baghdad, Iraq, working at the State Department.
Michael Baumgartner is a former Washington State Senator and diplomat, now serving as the Treasurer of Spokane County overseeing a nearly $1.9 billion fixed-income investment fund.
Michael spent eight years as the State Senator for the 6th Legislative District. There he played a lead role in the bipartisan effort creating a new WSU medical school in Spokane and in securing funding to finally finish the North-South Freeway. Michael led the successful push for a historic reduction in the cost of college tuition. His “Drain the Swamp” legislation eliminated five government agencies to reduce bureaucratic waste.
Michael received numerous honors, including the "Champion of Freedom Award" from the Washington Policy Center and the "Legislator of the Year" award from the Inland Empire Society of American Foresters. He is active in the GOP, having served as MC for the State Republican Gala dinner and auctioneer for the Spokane County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. In 2012, Michael was the Republican candidate for US Senate in Washington.
Michael grew up surrounded by the Palouse wheatfields in Colton and then Pullman. He is the son of two lifelong educators: Michael’s mother is beloved Pullman kindergarten teacher “Mrs. B,” and his father was Emeritus Professor of Forestry at Washington State University.
Michael majored in economics at WSU (Go Cougs!) and after spending a year volunteering with the Jesuits in Africa, he earned a Masters in Public Administration (MPA, International Development) from Harvard University, where he was a Teaching Fellow in Economics.
After working in private business in the Middle East, Michael was a U.S. State Department Officer at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, from 2007 to 2008. He went on to serve as a counternarcotics advisor to a US Government-funded program in Afghanistan, where he worked alongside his future wife, Eleanor.
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Eleanor and Michael now live in Spokane with their five young children and are very involved in youth sports, scouts and Sunday School. Their family loves camping and hiking all over Eastern Washington, from the Kettle Crest trail and Curlew Lake to Steptoe Butte and biking the John Wayne trail.
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“I’ve travelled to more than 80 countries and there is no place like Eastern Washington. It’s the best place to live in the world, and the best place to raise a family. We need to keep it that way.”