Elected with no change in Washington, pure and simple (8)
I believe the answer is:
innocent
'pure and simple' is the definition.
(innocent can mean simple or naive)
'elected with no change in washington' is the wordplay.
'elected' becomes 'in' (in government).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'change in washington' becomes 'cent' (US coin).
'in'+'no'+'cent'='INNOCENT'
(Other definitions for innocent that I've seen before include "Without blame or guilt" , "Naive or not guilty" , "Pope" , "Simple and ignorant of evil" , "Naive person" .)