City of Puyallup

Michelle Rylands is an Army veteran and PTA president running against incumbent Senator Phil Fortunato. She is strongly in favor of fully funding K-12 education, and also advocates for fixing our state's upside-down tax code and helping local small businesses.

Fortunato was chosen by Republicans to replace long-time senator Pam Roach. While he is very conservative on many issues, he deserves credit for playing a key role in breaking the final state budget impasse this year by pushing his Republican colleagues to fund the contracts of state employees. Nevertheless, Rylands is the best choice in this race.

Edgewood City Councilmember Nate Lowry is a landscape architect who has been a strong progressive voice in the community. He's running for the 31st District House seat to fix Washington's upside-down tax code and fund Head Start and STEM education. He is running against Republican Morgan Irwin, who was recently appointed to this seat and has not demonstrated progressive values. Lowry is the better choice in this race.

John McCarthy is running for the Tacoma Port Commissioner Position 1 against army veteran and port security specialist Eric Holdman. McCarthy served as a Tacoma Port Commissioner from 1983 to 1992, and a Pierce County District Court judge for 22 years. While McCarthy is not the most progressive candidate, his previous experience and community involvement makes him the best choice in this race.

Incumbent Heather Shadko is serving her first term on the Puyallup City Council. She is a contracts manager for the Port of Tacoma, and has served as Chair of the Puyallup Library Board, and a member and vice-chair of the Planning Commission. Shadko's time on the council has been positive - fighting for humane treatment of the homeless, supporting Puyallup as Washington's second pollinator-friendly "Bee City," and advocating for public open space.

She is running against Cynthia Jacobsen, a math teacher at Pierce College. A fiscal conservative, her main campaign goals are mitigating population growth issues, fiscal responsibility, and working with charities and regional governments to address homelessness.

Shadko is the experienced, progressive pick for this position.

Julie Door is running for reelection to the Puyallup City Council District 3, Position 2 seat. Door was first elected to the city council in 2013. Since then, she has made strengthening the economy on behalf of working families one of her main priorities. On the council, Door supported the purchase of the Van Lierop farm to create a new park, implemented a Safe Routes to Schools initiative, and has worked on securing adequate shelter for the homeless in inclement weather. Door works with the Pierce County Opioid Task Force. She is the community services chair of the Puyallup Kiwanis Club and a board member of the South Sound 911 Board, among other community involvement.

Her opponent, Jeremy Hamel, is a DJ whose campaign focuses on curbing non-local development buyers and mitigating traffic issues. He has no political or community organization experience. Door is the best choice in this race.