Who is Adam James? Candidate garners protesters at North Bend forum

Published 2:37 pm Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Candidates for the 5th and 12th districts of the Washington state Legislature answered questions for a packed house at a July 14 event hosted by the SnoValley Chamber of Commerce.

Candidates present included Maggie Adams, Adam James and Mike Steele for District 12 and Michelle Bennett, Zach Hall, Topher Leritz and Aimee Warmerdam for District 5.

Moderator Rob Wotton, a Snoqualmie council member and chamber board member, asked candidates how they would support small businesses, ensure accountability in government, balance affordability with public services and make improvements to Snoqualmie Valley highways while ensuring road safety.

The event was routine, the candidates were well-mannered and the audience participation was kept to a minimum, as Wotton ensured when some guests took to cheering.

But the entire evening was set to an unexpected backdrop.

About 40 protesters picketed the event, lining the sidewalk outside North Bend Theatre with signs and concerns. A few women wore the red dress and white bonnet uniforms from “The Handmaid’s Tale” with signage promoting the websites NoToAdamJames.com and AdamJamesHatesWomen.com.

Members of the Snoqualmie Valley chapter of Indivisible had gathered to peacefully protest just one of the seven candidates present: Adam James. James is running for position 2 in the 12th Legislative District, which includes North Bend, Snoqualmie Ridge, Fall City and Carnation.

Jesse Skorupa, an organizer for Snoqualmie Valley Indivisible, said the protest was to “sound the alarm” about James.

“Adam James is running for office with views that are dangerously out of step with what this community actually values,” Skorupa said. “Most people we talk to don’t even know he’s on the ballot — or what he actually believes. We wanted to make sure they find out before Election Day, not after.”

James is a pastor and part of the executive team at Grace City Church in Wenatchee. During his opening comment at North Bend’s candidate forum, he noted that he is the son of a teacher and a small business owner, having lived in Central Washington most of his life. He has no political experience and listed his job experience as working in orchards, serving as a youth pastor for 10 years and then helping found Grace City.

He said twice during the evening that he believes Washington has been going in the “wrong direction” for the last 40-plus years and mentioned multiple times that he does not believe in maintaining the “status quo.”

As of June 20, James’s campaign has raised more than $345,000, more than triple the contributions raised by incumbent Mike Steele.

James, as well as the other six candidates at the forum, was not overly specific about his plans, should he take office. But according to his campaign website, his plans consist of five “essential reforms.”

He wants to ensure election integrity, in part by “reforming” the mail-in ballot system; stop the state’s “tax tyranny;” end “ideological indoctrination” in public classrooms; prioritize law enforcement and end “sanctuary state” policies; and “defend life” in the pursuit of “defending the American family.”

The homepage of the website also mentions that James was part of a May 2020 lawsuit against former Gov. Jay Inslee in an attempt to get the governor to end the COVID-19 state of emergency in Chelan and Douglas counties.

But James’s views that concern members of Snoqualmie Valley Indivisible aren’t those listed on his website. For the most part, they are things James has said during his sermons, which are recorded and posted on the Grace City Church website and on the YouTube page of lead pastor Josh McPherson.

In one of the sermons mentioned by Skorupa and other protestors, James encourages married couples to be sexually active and says wives should not say “don’t touch me” to their husbands — “for the husbands, that’s my body,” James says.

In a video posted to YouTube four months ago, James is seen at a campaign event telling the crowd what he will bring to Olympia if he is elected. He stated that he is in favor of policies that “uphold and defend life, faith, marriage, biblical sexuality, two genders, rule of law, legal immigration, school choice, lower taxes and individual liberties.”

After James’s speech, McPherson told the crowd that the church is “sending our best men to the worst places.”

“There’s already one good man in the first seat, as state representative for the 12th District, we’re going to send him a second man,” McPherson said, referring to Brian Burnett, who is up for reelection in position 1.

McPherson also said that they are interested in Christian “dominion” in Olympia.

“Jesus claims victory and power and authority over the political realm, over governance, over governors,” McPherson said.

McPherson is also the creator of Stronger Man Nation, a podcast and online men’s ministry in which he provides teachings on things like marriage, parenting, sex and politics.

Over Father’s Day weekend, Stronger Man Nation hosted an event at The Gorge Amphitheatre called Freedom Con. It was described by The New York Times as an event for “masculinity, Christianity and right-wing politics.”

The Times coverage noted that the event also included calls for these men to run for office — part of an effort appearing across the nation to tear down the wall between church and state.

At a July 6 event in Wenatchee, local clergy gathered to “urge voters to distinguish Christianity from Christian nationalism,” according to reporting from The Leavenworth Echo (Leavenworth is included in the 12th District).

During the event, Pastor Aaron Musser of Leavenworth said the premise of Christian nationalism is that the United States was “founded as an explicitly Christian nation, has drifted from that identity and should be restored to it,” according to the Echo.

Clergy members discussed why they think Christian nationalism’s “defining characteristics have become visible in north central Washington,” the Echo said, and played a clip of the James campaign event.

“Among the candidates seeking the 12th Legislative District seat,” the Echo wrote, “James is the only one who has publicly framed the state’s political problems as a spiritual conflict involving supernatural forces.”

Referring to James’s sermons, Skorupa said, “These aren’t our characterizations — they’re his own words, on tape. That’s what ‘extremist’ means here, and it’s why we’re raising the alarm now, before the election.”

Primary election day is Aug. 4. To see a full list of candidates running to represent the Snoqualmie Valley at the state level, visit the May 13 story “Snoqualmie Valley state legislative candidates | Election 2026” at valleyrecord.com.

A full recording of the primary candidate forum can be found on the SnoValley Chamber’s Facebook page.