Progressive Voters Guide

Rep. Kim Schrier was elected to represent Washington's 8th Congressional District in 2018. Schrier serves on the Education & Labor and Agriculture Committees and prioritized gun violence prevention, health care (including reducing the cost of prescription drugs), and reproductive justice in her first term. Prior to running for office, she worked as a pediatrician in Issaquah for two decades. She is the first Democrat to hold this seat.

Rep. Schrier's strong re-election platform includes encouraging sustainable agriculture, addressing the climate crisis, safeguarding our elections, and protecting endangered species and lands. She is the only woman doctor in Congress and her perspective is incredibly valuable, especially during this unprecedented pandemic. Schrier held more than 50 town halls in her first term and is endorsed by numerous progressive partner organizations and Democratic elected officials.

Also in this race are Democrats James Mitchell and Keith Arnold, Independent Corey Bailey, Republicans Jesse Jensen and Keith Swank, Trump Republican Dave Saulibio, and Ryan Dean Burkett, who states he has no party preference. Mitchell is an anti-choice Democrat who describes himself as "old school" and believes vaccines are dangerous. Arnold is a perennial anti-choice candidate who has been on the ballot in every election since 2008. Bailey wants to prioritize re-opening Washington state, which public health experts agree is not safe.

Jensen is a manager at Amazon and a former Army captain who was recruited by Republicans to run in this district. He claims he will protect coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and lower the cost of health care but doesn't offer any substantial policy ideas. Swank is a police officer and commander of the Metro Special Response Section who wants to make the Trump tax cuts that benefited big corporations permanent. Saulibio also ran for Congress in 2018 and pledges to support all legislative actions that support Trump. Burkett is running to institute term limits and move the U.S. to the metric system. He is not a serious candidate. 

Rep. Schrier is the clear choice in this race and deserves your vote.

First elected in 2016, former state Rep. Kristine Reeves is also running for the open 10th Congressional District seat. She is the Director of Economic Development for the Military and Defense sector for Washington state, where she has helped secure millions of dollars for small businesses and local infrastructure. In the Legislature, Reeves has been a champion for paid family and medical leave, gun safety, and making childcare more affordable. She took a more cautious approach than Doglio to several pieces of legislation, including voting against taxing polluters and increasing protections for tenants. 

In her Fuse interview, Reeves said her life experience would guide her priorities and decision making in Congress. She is motivated to address affordable housing and homelessness by her experience growing up as a foster child and being homeless herself at times. She supports universal health care and points to her own health care emergency that nearly left her bankrupt as a young adult. Reeves also stated that she is the only leading candidate in the race with foreign policy experience.

If elected, Reeves would be the first Black person elected to Congress from Washington in our state's 131-year history.

Rep. Adam Smith has been a reliable vote in Congress on progressive issues from taxation to immigration reform. He represents Washington's most diverse district, which is home to 30 percent foreign-born residents and large Asian, Hispanic, and Black communities. Smith is an advocate for greater equality, and supports a path to citizenship for immigrants, reforming the tax code, and Medicare for All. Recently, Rep. Smith spoke out against President Trump's call for the military to intervene and stop the "insurrection" of demonstrators protesting police brutality. He supported the $3 trillion coronavirus pandemic relief package and is supporting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to dramatically increase accountability and transparency.

Also in this race are Libertarian Jorge Besada and Republicans Joshua Campbell and Doug Basler. Campbell believes that all Americans should "pick a side" and unite under one party while stating that voting for Trump was a good choice. Basler has challenged Rep. Smith before, making it to the general in 2014 and 2016 but losing to Sarah Smith in the primary in 2018. He does not have a strong campaign platform but has always run as a Republican and believes the Democratic caucus has "literally held Americans hostage" during the coronavirus pandemic. Besada is running on a platform including making taxes voluntary but does support reforming the criminal justice system.

Rep. Smith is the clear choice in this race and deserves your vote for Congress.

Carolyn Long has taught Southwest Washington’s students for 24 years at WSU Vancouver. She is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler. Long ran against Herrera Beutler in 2018 and is well-positioned to build off that strong campaign and win this year.

Long's platform includes critically-important health care policies, including protecting people with pre-existing conditions, defending the Affordable Care Act, and providing substantive and equitable health care for those with addiction and mental health issues. She is also prioritizing treating gun violence as a public health crisis, caring for veterans, reforming the tax code to make it more equitable for working families, and protecting Medicare and Social Security.

Long's opponent, Herrera Beutler, is a conservative Republican who votes with Trump more than 80% of the time. Despite taking a few key votes to appear more moderate, Herrera Beutler is actually very conservative. While she voted against one bill that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act, she has stated she still wants to overturn the law, which provides health care to millions of Americans. Herrera Beutler was also the only member of Congress from Washington to support the Trump administration's cruel immigration bill and she refused to vote for the Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Herrera Beutler has been criticized by her constituents in the past for her refusal to hold town halls and be held accountable for the harmful votes she has taken. More recently, she voted against the COVID-19 relief in the HEROES Act, denying her constituents needed additional cash payments, funding for additional testing and treatment, support for the Postal Service, hazard pay for medical and frontline workers, and expanded SNAP benefits.

Also in this race are Democrats Devin Gray and Davy Ray, as well as Martin Hash, who states he does not have a party preference. Ray wants to prioritize creating jobs after the pandemic, making health care a right not a privilege, and dismissing the Electoral College. Hash does not have a strong campaign presence but does believe liberty means suffering the consequences of your own actions. Gray did not submit any information to the Voters Guide and has no campaign information available.

Long is the best choice in this race and deserves your vote.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal is running for re-election in the 7th Congressional District. She has a long history of civic leadership on immigration reform, economic justice, and civil liberties. Rep. Jayapal founded OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone) in 2001 and built it into the largest immigrant rights organization in the state and a national model. She also played a key role on the Mayoral Advisory Committee that created Seattle’s $15 minimum wage.

Since her election to Congress in 2016, Rep. Jayapal has resisted the Trump administration at every turn and provided a voice for progressives across the country. She has supported the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for young DACA recipients. She has also fought back against the Trump administration's inhumane policy of separating families seeking asylum, and introduced legislation that paves a pathway towards a universal health care system. This year, Rep. Jayapal introduced legislation to expand collective bargaining and provide relief to workers and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. She has held nearly 100 town halls during her time in Congress and is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Also in this race are Democrat Jack Hughes-Hageman, Independent Rick Lewis, and Republicans Scott Sutherland and Craig Keller. Hughes-Hageman wants to repeal federal marijuana prohibition with universal amnesty and seems to be very progressive but does not have any elected experience. Independent Lewis has a background in military intelligence and says he has the resume of a "highly competent James Bond villain." He is not a serious candidate. Sutherland's platform includes promoting renewable energy and proposing a constitutional amendment requiring all members of Congress to handwrite all proposed laws. Keller claims legislators have "lavished" billions of dollars "upon illegal aliens and their profiteer employers." He is neither progressive nor qualified for Congress.

Jayapal has been an outstanding progressive leader for the 7th Congressional District and the entire country. She has earned your vote for re-election.

Rep. Denny Heck is retiring from Congress and running for Lt. Governor. Heck has had a long, effective career in both the private and public sectors, most notably as a five-term state representative, House majority leader, chief of staff to former Gov. Booth Gardner, and TVW co-founder.

In Congress, Heck has fought to make college more affordable, worked to lower health care costs, ensure veterans get the benefits they deserve, and create middle-class jobs. He supports immigration policies that create a path to citizenship and worked to help prevent health care premium increases due to Trump's policies. Heck was elected to represent the 10th Congressional District after it was created in 2012 and decided to retire after the impeachment hearings in December 2019.

His top priorities as Lt. Governor would be reforming our regressive tax system, investing in infrastructure to rebuild the economy as well as the roads and bridges, and helping people "skill up". In his Fuse interview, he expressed support for police reform and wants to expand on the Electeds For Justice pledge to eliminate qualified immunity for police officers. In addition, Heck said he wants to use the office and his extensive experience to lobby swing senators on progressive issues.

Former port commissioner and progressive state Rep. Gael Tarleton is now running for Secretary of State, who serves as the state's chief elections officer, among other roles. First elected to the Legislature in 2012, Tarleton has been a strong advocate for environmental causes such as Governor Jay Inslee's initiative to reduce carbon pollution. She sponsored bills during her first term in the House to strengthen the maritime industry, improve access to health care, and ensure gender pay equity.

Tarleton is running for Secretary of State to expand access to voting in Washington while safeguarding our elections against attacks "foreign and domestic." She wants to improve digital security and increase funding for county auditors to safeguard local elections from hacking attempts in the wake of the 2016 election. She would also expand audits of the state and local systems to identify any weaknesses that could be exploited.

Tarleton is challenging incumbent Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman, who has faced a bumpy road during her time in office. Last year, Wyman's office released a new $9.5 million voter registration database that was riddled with errors and led to a backlog of tens of thousands of registrations. King County elections director Julie Wise described the release as "irresponsible" and "not even functioning." In addition, Wyman was slow to support the Washington Voting Rights Act, same-day voter registration, and postage-paid ballots, and she has failed to condemn the president's relentless attacks on voting by mail.

Also in this race are Independent Ed Minger and Progressive Party candidate Gentry Lange. Minger wants to prohibit candidates from running paid ads, which is blatantly unconstitutional, and Lange wants to end voting by mail in Washington, a particularly confounding position during a pandemic.

We need a progressive leader in the Secretary of State's office who is fully committed to protecting our elections and removing every barrier to participation in our democracy. Tarleton is the clear progressive choice in this race.

Mike Pellicciotti has served in the Washington state House representing the 30th Legislative District since 2016 and is now running for Treasurer. Pellicciotti has never accepted corporate campaign donations and has led efforts to make the Legislature's records open for public view. He also wrote the Corporate Crime Act, which increases financial penalties for corporate crimes by 100 times, and has successfully supported laws reducing property taxes.

Pellicciotti is challenging incumbent Republican Duane Davidson. In 2016, incumbent Jim McIntire retired, leaving the seat open. Because of the crowded primary, two Republicans made it through to the general election, giving them control of the Treasurer's office for the first time since 1957. Davidson previously served as the Benton County Treasurer from 2003 to 2016. In his term, he has been a traditional Republican and has referred to the state Legislature "raiding" the Rainy Day Fund. He has also only attended 3 of 18 critical pension meetings since fall 2017.

Pellicciotti has been a solid legislator and is the best choice in the race for Washington State Treasurer.

Democrat Garbe Reser is running for the state Senate seat in the 16th Legislative District, which is open after Sen. Maureen Walsh's retirement. Reser has served in several leadership roles in the community, including on Whitman’s Presidential Advisory Board and the Walla Walla YWCA’s Nominating Committee and Community Council’s Governance Committee. She notes that she has worked for both Democratic and Republican administrations through her 14-year career as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. She calls her platform, which focuses on community recovery and resiliency, both fiscally responsible and community-driven. She wants to help get people back to work by modernizing the electric grid and supports additional investments in early learning, affordable housing, and quality healthcare.

Garbe Reser is running against Republicans Perry Dozier and Rep. Bill Jenkin. Former Walla Walla County Commissioner Dozier is running on a pro-business, anti-regulation platform. He has seized on the coronavirus crisis as a way to criticize the governor and advance a conservative agenda. Dozier previously faced controversy for his efforts to pump water from agricultural zones to bottle and sell elsewhere.

Jenkin has served as a state representative for the 16th Legislative District for two terms. Like most Republicans, he is focused on the economic recovery of the state after the initial COVID outbreak but suggests nothing about shoring up the state's health system. He even suggested that parts of the state re-open before the first peak of the virus in April. His other campaign priorities include education and reducing regulations on farming. In the House, Jenkin cast bad votes on a slate of progressive policies, including establishing a state office of equity, reducing pollution and greenhouse gases, and funding affordable housing.

Garbe Reser is the best choice for state Senate from the 16th Legislative District.

Puyallup mayor and local small business owner Julie Door is running for state Senate in the 25th Legislative District. Prior to being elected as mayor this year, Door served on the council for seven years, where she supported the purchase of the Van Lierop farm to create a new park, implemented a Safe Routes to Schools initiative, and worked on securing adequate shelter for homeless people in inclement weather. She was the community services chair of the Puyallup Kiwanis Club and is a board member of the South Sound 911 Board, among other community involvement. If elected, Door would prioritize improving expanding health care access and mental health treatment, pushing for living-wage jobs in the district, and promoting more equity and investment in the classroom.

Door is running against Republicans Emmett Smith and Rep. Chris Gildon. Though he does not appear to have a website or detailed platform available as of mid-July, Smith is an attorney who has also worked extensively with drilling companies and oil corporations. He states that everything costs too much and he would use his financial and legal experience to navigate the current medical and economic crisis.

Gildon is one of several Republican legislators who called for leaving re-opening decisions up to local governments, despite the fact that, as of late-July, the pandemic is continuing to grow across the state. Gildon voted against creating a statewide office of equity, requiring greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to zero by 2050, and reducing transportation pollution.

Door is the best choice in this race.

Incumbent Rep. Laurie Dolan is running for re-election for the 22nd Legislative District, Position 1. As an educator with more than 30 years of classroom and area director experience with Spokane Public Schools, Dolan has served as the vice chair of the Education and State Government Committees where she fought for workers' rights and to fully fund education. Some of her recent legislative highlights include funding for mental health experts in schools and transparent salary history laws that benefit women and people of color. If re-elected, Dolan states that she will continue her work on safe schools, protections for workers, and expanding affordable healthcare.

Dolan is running against Libertarian Allen Acosta and Socialist Johnny Meade. Acosta does not have a strong campaign platform or presence. His voter guide statement includes that he is against continued taxation and regulation, and for conservation education. Socialist Johnny Meade is running to bring working-class issues to the forefront. Meade has worked in a variety of industries and volunteered for political campaigns, a background which he says makes him similar to the community he represents. Meade has an extensive list of priorities that he would take to Olympia if elected, including expanding unemployment benefits, investing in public housing, and fully funding remote K-12 access.

Dolan has received the majority of support from progressive organizations and is the best choice in this race.

Glenda Breiler is a social worker and the director of the Longhouse at the Evergreen State College. A member of the Colville Tribes, Breiler is prioritizing climate action and protecting local water and land in her campaign for Legislature. In addition, she wants to reduce inequality in education and support an Evergreen New Deal to create jobs and transform our energy sources.

In her Fuse interview, Breiler emphasized the importance of electing more women of color to the Legislature who are willing to challenge the status quo and support bold solutions to the challenges facing our state. 

Rep. Mike Chapman is a moderate Democrat running for re-election for the 24th Legislative District, House Position 1. First elected in 2016, Chapman has fought for economic policies that create jobs in rural communities and protect the environment. This year, he was a co-sponsor of a major environmental bill to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. Chapman is also focused on producing solutions for families concerned about the quality of K-12 education and supporting economic opportunity in Washington.

Chapman is running against Daniel Charles Svoboda and Republican Sue Forde. Svoboda, who has no official affiliation but states that he is a Trump Republican, has one of the more atrocious platforms of any candidate in Washington this year. His priorities include eliminating abortion and ending legal protections for people with disabilities. Forde's campaign is focused on crime prosecution, Second Amendment rights, and reducing regulations.

Chapman is the clear choice in this race.

Colton Myers is running against Republican Rep. Dan Griffey for the 35th Legislative District, House Position 1. Myers is a senior health care analyst who is running on a much more progressive platform than Griffey, including closing the gaps in our health care system and bringing more family-wage jobs to the region. He has taken the "No Fossil Fuel Money" Pledge and wants to hold corporate polluters accountable and promote environmental justice and public health. Myers rightly criticized Griffey for his votes against LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights, as well as his refusal to affirm that Black Lives Matter.

This year, Griffey was an opponent of legislation to combat the climate crisis and voted against establishing the Washington State Office of Equity. He has served in the 35th Legislative District since 2015 and previously voted against raising the minimum wage and allowing all workers to earn sick leave.

Myers is the clear choice in this race.

Darcy Huffman is challenging Rep. Drew MacEwen for the 35th Legislative District, House Position 2. Huffman has worked to support people with day-to-day money management for 25 years and serves as the Resource and Communication Director at her church in Olympia. She's also vice president elect for the Southwestern Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and sits on their Affordable Housing Taskforce. Huffman's campaign platform includes increasing access to affordable housing and health care and expanding broadband access in rural areas.

Huffman is running against MacEwen and Earl Burt, who listed his party preference as "Shortstop." MacEwen has opposed a host of progressive issues, including increasing the minimum wage, requiring employers to provide sick leave to workers, banning bump stocks, democracy-expanding automatic voter registration, and prohibiting conversion therapy on LGBTQ minors. This year alone, MacEwen voted against prohibiting race-based hair discrimination, citizenship, or immigration status, opposed establishing the Washington State Office of Equity, and voted no on as gun safety legislation. Finally, MacEwen was one of the Republicans who frivolously sued Gov. Inslee over his Stay-At-Home order. Burt states that he will support "support hard right and hard left positions when appropriate and then return to the moderate position." He has no detailed policy platform available as of mid-July.

Darcy Huffman is running a strong campaign and deserves your vote.

Emily Wicks is running to retain the Legislative District 38, House Position 1, which she was appointed to recently when June Robinson was appointed to the Senate. Wicks is the president of the National Women's Political Caucus of Washington and worked as a legislative aide for Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib while he served in the Legislature. She has more than a decade of experience in government affairs and communications, and founded a small business in 2019. Her campaign platform includes economic recovery that benefits everyone and strengthening our public health system. Wicks has served as a communications consultant, including for the Tulalip Bay Fire Department, and wants to work with local governments to support front-line workers.

Wicks is facing Democrat Lacey Sauvageau, Libertarian Jorge Garrido, and Republican Bert Johnson. Sauvageau is a 911 operator who states that she will focus on the environment and smaller class sizes, among other priorities. She states that while she supports police accountability she doesn't believe they should be taken out of communities, saying "our communities need to be protected against criminals." Garrido does not have a campaign website or detailed policies available as of mid-July, but says that he is running for limited government solutions. Johnson is a perennial candidate who previously challenged Rep. Mike Sells and June Robinson. He ran as an independent in 2016 and 2018 but is currently running as a Republican. He states that he will provide accountability, push back against sex education, carbon taxes, and tolls.

Rep. Wicks is the best choice in this race and deserves your vote.

Rep. Amy Walen is running for re-election to the 48th District, House Position 2. Walen previously served as the mayor of Kirkland. Her campaign is focused on fixing Washington's upside-down tax code to ensure lower-income families don't pay more than wealthy families. She is also promoting gun safety legislation to raise the age of purchase for semi-automatic weapons, treat homelessness and addiction as public health crises, and prevent discrimination.

Walen is running against Democrat Morgan Puchek and Republican Tim Hickey. While Puchek is running as a Democrat, his platform emphasizes fiscal conservatism and partnerships with corporations. He does not have any meaningful endorsements. Hickey is running to fund police officers and fire departments as a response to homelessness and "senseless attacks on our persons and our property," as well as to reject comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education, lower all taxes for businesses, and fight socialism.

Rep. Walen is the clear choice in this race and deserves your vote.