Matthew Hayes hates how other people run for Congress

Matthew Hayes, a retired physician and recent Gonzaga law graduate who is making healthcare reform the central policy pillar of his campaign for Congress, hates how most people run for office.

A former doctor who served as a military physician in Afghanistan, Hayes' policy goals center almost solely on reforming a healthcare system he believes has been corrupted by profit motives and people with Master in Business Administration degrees telling doctors how to care for patients. But in a moment when many of the reforms being proposed are sweeping and swift, Hayes argues for a slower approach to change.

Everyone should have access to basic medical care regardless of income, he says, but he stops short of supporting the loftier universal healthcare policies popular with most of the Democratic and independent challengers for the seat, arguing corporate interests are far too entrenched to make it possible.

He instead pitches a $10 million cap for hospital executives' salaries or for gradually lowering the Medicare eligibility age.

"We have to make small, incremental changes in order to ensure access, and also more importantly, to improve the care that people are getting," he said.

An independent candidate who hopes to unseat Rep. Michael Baumgartner this November, Hayes makes light of his relatively late start compared to the half-dozen candidates who announced their campaigns months or years earlier. If anything, he argues it may be a kind of advantage.

"The average person is actually kind of put off when you are trying to talk politics with them long before an election," he said. "They're just trying to survive, trying to stay sane in an insane world."

Billboards, TV ads, mailers, texts - Hayes believes the way candidates for office inundate the electorate is part of the reason why voter turnout is so abysmal, and he believes in turn that low engagement is an existential crisis. Most of Hayes' campaign material doesn't mention him at all, instead promoting a generic message about the importance of voting.

"I have been kind of shocked by voter apathy, and I almost think it is counterproductive to be up in people's faces," he said.

Outside of his personal distaste for the bombardment voters endure each election cycle, Hayes won't engage in these tactics even if he wanted to, because he can't afford them.

While Hayes decided to jump into the race during winter, he admits that one of the reasons his campaign didn't get noticed until shortly before May's candidate filing week is because he hasn't raised the $5,000 that would have forced an early filing with the Federal Election Commission . That's in a race with candidates who had raised $1.4 million (Baumgartner), over $300,000 (Carmela Conroy), or more than $150,000 (Nate Powell) by the end of March.

One of the only branded pieces of Hayes merch are "the tiniest bumper stickers on the planet ... that's all I could afford."

Without those kinds of resources - or willingness, if he had them, to spend them as other candidates might - Hayes is relying on word of mouth, public forums, and the soon-to-be-worn-out soles of his running shoes to get in front of voters. It'll be a tall order in a congressional district larger than some states, but Hayes hopes that a light touch will be enough to get voters thinking about his candidacy without turning them off from voting altogether.

Running as an independent, Hayes also will lack the kind of party backing that a Democratic or Republican candidate might have. He argues it's the only way to stay true to his values, referring to himself as fiscally conservative and "disgusted" by the size of the deficit but also socially progressive and unwilling to compromise under political pressure.

"I understand this is an extreme uphill battle," he said. "But I don't want to align myself with any organization that has their own agenda, that seems grotesque to me."

He supports a strict border control policy that remains at the borders, arguing that immigration enforcement has been "repugnant" under the Trump administration with the backing of Republicans and flimsy pushback from Democrats.

"The Democratic Party pretty much laughed at me and treated me like a piece of garbage - and the Democratic Party also voted for more ICE funding in February," Hayes added. "Seven Democrats voted for more ICE funding after the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti - that's appalling to me."

Asked how he would approach a voter worried that supporting an independent is a bad bet, Hayes has a simple answer.

"Be bold," he said. "Go with your heart, and vote for somebody who's a good person.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Hayes' role in Afghanistan. He was a military physician. Also, he is proposing lowering the eligibility age for Medicare, not Medicaid.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 7:14 PM.