48th Legislative District

Progressive John Murphy is running for King County Council, District 3. From serving as a Vietnam Navy corpsman to working as a Deputy Fire Chief at Eastside Fire and Rescue for 20 years, Murphy has devoted his life to public service. Murphy prioritizes the economic needs of working families and wants to implement responsible infrastructure development throughout the county. If elected, Murphy would also focus on affordable housing, public safety, transportation, and improving waste water management in King County.

Murphy is running against conservative incumbent Kathy Lambert, whose track record on health and human services shows that she prioritizes conservative ideology over the needs of her constituents. John Murphy is the clear choice in this race.

Randy Grein is running for Bellevue City Council, Position 2. Grein is running a low-profile progressive campaign with the support of local Democratic Party organizations. He is focused on making city government more accessible to the community and addressing pressing local issues like traffic congestion, affordable housing, and homelessness.

Grein is running against conservative incumbent Conrad Lee, who has been on the Bellevue City Council for more than 20 years. Lee has been a consistent conservative voice on the council, opposing the expansion of light rail and new housing options for homeless people. Grein is the best choice in this race.

Karol Brown is the founder of World One Law Group, an immigration law practice that helps businesses and families handle their immigration affairs. She was chair of the 41st Legislative District Democrats and was also the former Policy and Advocacy Director at OneAmerica, an immigrant rights advocacy organization. Her campaign is focused on keeping Bellevue affordable for working families, improving transit, and public safety.

Brown is running against Jared Nieuwenhuis, the marketing director for HeR Interactive, Inc. Nieuwenhuis is backed by the conservative members of the current Bellevue City Council. Brown's experience and progressive values make her the clear choice in this race.

Community leader Janice Zahn has served on the City of Bellevue Transportation Commission since 2013. Previously, she was a manager for construction projects for the Port of Seattle, where she gained experience making sustainable transportation decisions on a regional scale. Zahn is running to ensure that the Eastside grows responsibly while protecting access to affordable housing for residents. She also wants to implement a climate change policy that reflects the city's values.

Zahn is running agains Phillip Yin, who ran as a Republican for Lt. Governor last year and lost in the primary to former state Senator Cyrus Habib. Zahn has earned strong progressive support and is the best choice in this race.

Lynne Robinson is running for re-election to the Bellevue City Council, Position 6. Since joining in 2014, Robinson has prioritized supporting small businesses, increasing responsible development, and protecting the environment at the local level. She is focused on addressing the needs of Bellevue families by focusing on education, affordable housing, and human services for vulnerable community members.

Robinson is running against attorney Steven Fricke, who is running on a conservative platform against expanding options for housing the homeless in Bellevue. Because of her track record as a progressive advocate on a range of local issues, Robinson is the best choice in this race.

Kirkland Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold was elected to the City Council in 2013 and has emerged as a real leader in the community. He chairs the council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, participates in the regional King County-Cities Climate Collaboration, and has held leadership roles in YES! For Great Kirkland Parks, Futurewise, and Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development). In his first term, Arnold has prioritized smart development and transportation plans for Kirkland, funding for parks, revitalizing the Totem Lake Mall, and supporting individual neighborhood plans. Arnold is also a part-time technology consultant at Fuse. He was not involved in this recommendation.

Jay Arnold's opponent is Martin Morgan, a perennial candidate who has sued Kirkland several times as part of a multi-year feud with the city. Arnold is clearly the best choice for Kirkland City Council Position 1.

Tom Neir is running unopposed for Position 2 on the Kirkland City Council. He has served in several community organizations, including as co-founder and board member of the Kirkland Parks Foundation, board member of the Tilth Alliance, and as Chairman of the Kirkland Transportation Commission. His platform includes improving local sustainability efforts, education, and equality.

Penny Sweet is running unopposed for Kirkland City Council Position 3. She has served on the council since 2010 and serves in the community on the Board of Directors of the Kirkland Downtown Association. Sweet is also the co-founder of Celebrate Kirkland. She is focused on continuing Kirkland's economic successes through the redevelopment at Totem Lake and making the city more inclusive and welcoming.

Amy Walen has served as the mayor of Kirkland since 2014 and as a councilmember since 2009. She is the vice president of the Sound Cities Association and a member of the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board. Walen's track record includes supporting the Totem Lake revitalization and seeking to improve transportation infrastructure throughout the city. Her challenger, Jory Hamilton, is not running a competitive campaign. Walen is the best choice in this race.

Tanika Padhye was appointed to the Redmond City Council in March 2017 when Kim Allen, the former Position 4 councilmember, stepped down. As a lawyer, Padhye represented low-income residents through the Northwest Justice Project and worked as an investigator for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights. She served on the city's Planning Commission and the Parks and Trails Commission, and is focused on the issues of diversity, affordable housing, and traffic.

Padhye is opposed by Eugene Zakhareyev, a software development manager. Much of his focus has been on balancing urban growth, encouraging community involvement in land use planning, and supporting small businesses. Padhye is the more qualified candidate in this race.

Jeralee Anderson is the executive director of the Greenroads Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes and rates sustainable transportation infrastructure. A civil engineer by trade, she has been internationally recognized as a sustainability leader for Greenroads' rating system and won a Champion of Change award from the Obama White House in 2013. Anderson's platform focuses on green, resilient transportation systems, STEM education, and attracting new small businesses to Redmond. She is running against software engineer Jason Antonelli. Anderson is the best choice for Redmond City Council Position 6.

My-Linh Thai is running for reelection to the Bellevue School Board, Position 5. In her first term on the school board, she singlehandedly raised the issue of racial equity in education; because of her advocacy, racial equity is now a core guiding principle of the school board. As a Vietnamese refugee who moved to Washington at age 15 without speaking a word of English, Thai has an acute understanding of the true difference public education can make in the life of a child. Because Bellevue is the most diverse city in the state of Washington, Thai is best equipped to represent and advocate for all students in her district. She wants to enhance communication between all "clients" of the school district (parents, children, teacher, and staff) and close the achievement gap in math and reading.

Her opponent, Hugh Gladner, is running against the "cronyism" of the current school board and espousing a platform of transparency, partnering with charter schools, and getting more people in the district involved with the school district.

We recommend My-Linh Thai in this race.

Eastside high school teacher Anita Damjanovic has more than 13 years of experience in the field of education. Damjanovic is passionate about revitalizing K-12 education programs. She wants to invest in STEM education and early arts programs, create an early world language education program, and promote stronger teacher recruitment and retention strategies. Damjanovic also advocates for having school nurses present in all schools to ensure that the health and safety needs of students are met.

Cassandra Sage is a family advisor for Seattle Children’s Hospital and a Cub Scout leader who serves the community in many ways. As a mother with two sons with special needs, Sage wants to see more inclusion of special education kids in general school population. If elected, she would support increasing vocational programs, promote fully funded, equitable education, and increased support for college-bound students and their parents.

Both candidates have promising visions for the school district, however we lean towards Anita Damjanovic in this race because of the support she has earned from our progressive partners.