November 2018 Legislative Endorsements
Our three endorsements in the primary election remain:
- Sen. Marko Liias, running for re-election (State Senate, District 21)
- Jesse Salomon (State Senate, District 32)
- Joe Nguyen (State Senate, District 34)
Six Representatives, five Democratic and one Republican, stood up for Sound Transit against the MVET rollback efforts this year:
- Jacqueline Maycumber (District 7, Position 1)
- Beth Doglio (District 22, Position 2)
- Joe Fitzgibbon (District 34, Position 2)
- Noel Frame (District 36, Position 1)
- Gael Tarleton (District 36, Position 2)
- Nicole Macri (District 43, Position1)
All six have our gratitude and endorsement. They are essentially unopposed, so lets move on to some more interesting races.
State Representative, District 5, Pos. 1: Bill Ramos, a member of the Issaquah City Council, worked for the Federal Transit Administration from 2005 to 2013 as a Community Planner with emphasis in developing and managing the Tribal Transit Program and Rural and Small Urban Area Transit Systems. As Federal Tribal Liaison, he worked with 56 Tribes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska to help start or improve public transit on Tribal Lands.
State Representative, District 10, Pos. 2: Dave Paul has environmentalism, affordable housing, and homelessness as three of his top priorities. In particular, he has a great planning idea that should have already been in place: "Ensure that counties and cities are assessing their housing needs for the future; We must ensure that localities are regularly assessing their housing needs and zoning appropriately to accommodate expected growth." Moreover, he says nothing about widening highways. The incumbent, Rep. Dave Hayes, is a hardline opponent of highway tolls and other road user fees.
State Representative, District 25, Position 1: Jamie Smith says the right things about the transition to a green economy, repairing road infrastructure, and the need for more rapid transit. Her opponent, Kelly Chambers (not an incumbent), has little to say on any issue on her campaign websites.
State Senator, District 30: Claire Wilson, Federal Way School Board Member, is a roads-and-transit advocate, including streamlining light rail construction. The incumbent, Sen. Mark Miloscia, wants to reduce car tabs. We need more senators who will honor the will of the voters who passed ST3.
State Senator, District 42: Pinky Vargas, a Bellingham City Councilmember, lists affordable housing (i.e. increasing the supply) and climate change (i.e. working to mitigage it) as two of her top priorities. She is running against the Ranking Republican on the Senate Energy, Environment, & Technology Committee, Doug Ericksen, who goes out of his way to defend the fossil-fuel industry.
State Representative, District 42, Position 2: Sharon Shewmake lists climate change and affordable housing as her top two priorities. She advocates for smart growth and points out that we are building new housing much more slowly than the population is increasing. She also mentions she is a member of Walk Bike Bus Bellingham. The incumbent, Rep. Vincent Buys, is hung up on getting a 2/3 majority vote requirement in each chamber to raise taxes.
The STB Editorial Board currently consists of Martin H. Duke and Brent White.