Andrea Salinas learned politics — the good and the bad — as a young staffer in the 1990s.
It was hard to find work as a Democrat after Republicans took control of both chambers of Congress in the 1994 midterms, Salinas recalls. It was especially hard without a background in political science or a law degree.
But a staff assistant job with Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada helped get her foot in the door, and soon she landed a legislative role with Rep. Pete Stark of California.
“You don’t need any of that,” she says of advanced degrees. “You can learn on the job.”
A famously combative liberal, Stark was known for tangling with his Republican colleagues, calling one a “fascist” and another a “little wimp.”
Now a freshman in Congress herself, representing Oregon’s new 6th District, Salinas says she plans to pick her battles. “You want to be like, ‘Hey boss, maybe don’t say that.’ … Sometimes it's good to think before you speak,” she says.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Q: You started out as an intern for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, working in the California office when you were a student at Berkeley. What was that like?
A: They did have one other college intern at the time, but they were delighted to have someone just call them up and say, “Hey, would you be willing to take on an intern?”
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