Democratic candidate Lisa Brown, who is running against Washington state’s incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers, said in her Ph.D. thesis from 1986 that she is inspired by communists and socialists.
Her thesis, which was recently posted online, said she was "inspired" by communist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and anarchist Emma Goldman, among others.
“As a feminist … I am also inspired by great women activists, such as Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Emma Goldman,” Brown wrote in her thesis acknowledgments. “Other great women in my life include Golie Jansen, the members of the Boulder Socialist-Feminist Collective, and the members of the Spokane Women’s ‘Group.’"
Flynn, a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, became the chairwoman of the U.S. Communist Party in 1961, and said once said capitalism was incompatible with “human welfare.” Brown quoted Flynn in her thesis as someone who called on people to “hail to” and “work for” a “Socialist America.”
The Democratic Party has become increasingly split, as more progressive candidates and those who identify themselves as socialist have garnered support from politicians and the public. Some self-described socialists have won their Democratic primaries.
In 1917, the New York Times wrote that Goldman, Brown’s other inspirational figure, was considered one of the “two most notorious anarchists in the United States.” Leon Czolgosz, the man who assassinated President William McKinley, said in 1901 that he was a disciple of Goldman’s.
Brown’s campaign declined to respond to request for comment on whether she still admires these people.
The Democratic candidate also said in her thesis that modern marriage is the key institution that lead to the subordination of women.
“Modern marriage is a key institution linking public and private subordination of women in socialist-feminist analyses. In the household, it provides men with personal services rendered by their wives, who are dependent on this relationship because of their inferior position in the labor market,” Brown wrote.
Brown got married for the first time at age 61 to policy adviser to the Spokane City Council Brian McClatchey. The two were wed in 2017.
Brown’s office did not comment on whether or not she still believes marriage causes women to be forced into subordination.
