Kitsap News Group freelance reporter Mike De Felice was recently in Washington, D.C. to spend a week with U.S. Rep. Emily Randall as she settled into her role as the 6th District’s new congresswoman. This article, the first in a three-part series, delves into Randall’s first few months, combining her efforts to fit her personal life into a busy schedule representing Kitsap County constituents in the nation’s capital. Later installments will cover Randall’s first 100 days in a political environment rife with conflict and disagreement between majority party Republicans and Democrats and outline her efforts to benefit Kitsap County.

From an early age, U.S. Rep. Emily Randall of the 6th Congressional District seemed destined to enter politics to fix what she viewed as wrongs in society.

As a first grader at Sunnyslope Elementary in Port Orchard, Randall saw inequity at the school: there was only one tetherball on the playground.

“The boys were playing soccer, dodgeball and basketball. A lot of the girls wanted to play tetherball, and some had to wait in line all recess,” Randall recalled.

The first grader took action by circulating a petition among classmates to persuade the school to install an additional tetherball on the playground. Her efforts paid off when Sunnyslope added a second tetherball for the kids to enjoy.

In 9th grade, she entered her first political campaign for a seat in student government at what was then Cedar Heights Junior High. She handed out silver bows on safety pins to woo voters during her successful political campaign.

After graduating from Wellesley College in 2008, Randall worked as an advocate for health care and education. She focused on expanding affordable health care for women, children and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

This work led her to enter politics on the state level by running for state senator in the 26th Legislative District, a seat long held by retiring Jan Angel. She won her first campaign in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022 to represent parts of Kitsap and Pierce counties, Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula.

The homegrown 39-year-old politician ran for the 6th District’s U.S. congressional seat when longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer announced he would not run for re-election. Last November, Randall defeated Republican state Sen. Drew MacEwen in an open race to become the district’s new representative in Washington, D.C.

The transition from state to national politics offered Randall the opportunity to represent her fellow Kitsap residents on a bigger stage, but it also presented challenges for the 2004 South Kitsap High graduate.

On a personal level, she faced a weekly cross-country commute from her Bremerton home to D.C. — a 5-1/2-hour flight of nearly 3,000 miles. “In April, I already hit MVP Gold status on Alaska Air,” she said of her extended travels.

Randall also had to contend with how to occupy her time while flying home and back to the capital. Another member of Congress, who also flies from the West Coast, suggested to Randall a way to handle those air miles.

“He likes to sleep for two hours, work for two hours and do something fun for two hours. That sounded like pretty good advice,” she said.

Randall spends the fun portion of her flights listening to audiobooks on Kitsap Regional Library’s Libby app. Her favorite reads include autobiographies of politicians, indigenous storytelling and novels of magical realism. “The other day I read a really silly romance novel that took place in Westport,” she chuckled.

Working on Capitol Hill required setting up a second residence on the East Coast. She chose a one-and-a-half-bedroom apartment in Navy Yard, a neighborhood within walking distance of the Capitol. She vetoed the idea of living in a nearby building where 40 congressional members reside.

“I didn’t want that. I wanted to have some anonymity in the elevator, after being ‘on’ all day,” she explained.

Randall’s new job required her to deal with paying for two residences on opposite ends of the country. Congressional members are eligible to receive an allowance to help offset the steep price of rent in Washington, D.C. Randall accepted the funding as she and her wife, Alison, have a mortgage on their Bremerton home.

To get to work in D.C., Randall said that walking is her preferred mode of transportation, but she also enjoys traveling on two wheels. “I love those [shared] Lime scooters. If I’m wearing a dress and heels, I still can hop on a scooter if I’m late to the office or a meeting.”

To take her mind off politics while in the nation’s capital, she enjoys spending time preparing evening meals. Recently, she cooked dinner at her place for the Democratic delegation from this state.

Randall prepared a menu that included Atlantic salmon, an array of salads and hot honey jalapeno cornbread. When asked if the spread earned positive Yelp reviews from the pols, Randall replied, “Oh, yes. They were like, ‘Hey, it’s real food!’ because they mostly eat reception food.”

Despite long commutes home, Randall says it’s critical for her to maintain contact with constituents — and to clear her head. “This place is weird, D.C. To be in the minority under this Trump administration, in these marble buildings all the time, and at this pace,” she said, shaking her head.

“I love going home and running into neighbors at the grocery store, and when I go out to eat. I like to go home and be a regular person in my Birkenstocks,” she said.

Randall and Alison live in a two-story 1981 Craftsman in Bremerton that includes a large cherry tree in their yard. Randall enjoys gardening, a pastime she picked up from her late grandpa, and grows blueberries, raspberries, onions and arugula. Still, she says, there are times her home’s lawn is overgrown, Randall recently admitted to her Instagram followers.

Her Bremerton family also features their three dogs – Frida, a pitbull; Ricky Martína, a pit/Husky mix; and Bad Bunny, a talkative Chihuahua mix. Randall brings along the pocket-sized Bad Bunny to D.C. for company. The small Chihuahua hangs out in Randall’s D.C. office and even trots to the Capitol when Randall votes.

She takes off two weekends a month to be with family. “I have a nephew who is almost a year and a half — my brother’s first kid. I like to be an aunt,” she said with a smile.

In the next installment in this series, Rep. Randall will describe the difficulties she encountered during her first months of working in the halls of Congress.

The U.S. Capitol Building.