City of Renton

Sen. Joe Nguyen was elected to the Washington state Senate in 2018 and has worked as a senior program manager at Microsoft since 2013. His parents were refugees from Vietnam who came to White Center, where Nguyen was born and raised.

During Nguyen's time in the Legislature, he has been an advocate for Washington's families and equality, including playing a leadership role in fully funding the Working Families Tax Credit. In addition, he co-sponsored legislation to require anti-racism and equity training in public schools.

Nguyen is running for county executive to implement sweeping actions on the affordable housing crisis, to reform the criminal justice system with deep changes and accountability, and to make the state's economy work for everyone, not just the wealthiest people. In particular, Nguyen has proposed to make all transit services free to improve access and increase ridership. He also wants to leverage the new Regional Homelessness Authority to significantly scale up the building of affordable housing.

Nguyen has the support of elected leaders including state Reps. Kirsten Harris-Talley and David Hackney as well as state Sen. Bob Hasegawa and Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti. Nguyen is a progressive choice if you're looking for new leadership in the executive's office who will prioritize racial justice and systemic change.

Incumbent Dave Upthegrove is running to bring his tri-part vision of King County to reality: health, jobs, and justice. He was the first openly gay state representative from outside Seattle in Washington history, and he went on to serve five terms in the Legislature before being elected to the King County Council in 2013.

Upthegrove has been a good council member and a solid advocate on several fronts in the county. He has been a leading voice on the council for environmental protections and climate action. As the chair of the King County Flood Control District Board of Supervisors, Upthegrove has worked to repair estuaries and has increased funding for repairing salmon habitats. 

If re-elected, Upthegrove hopes to continue making progress on police accountability by strengthening civilian oversight of the sheriff's office. Overall, Upthegrove has been a reliable vote on many issues but has not been as ambitious on some priorities as Olow plans to be. In particular, he frustrated housing and human service advocates with his opposition to a more ambitious Vets, Seniors, and Human Services Levy in 2017. During our interview, he said he has learned in recent years the value of year-round public engagement, instead of just before a major vote, and this community input has made him more willing to support tax increases if they fund valuable services. He has earned support from both labor and environmental groups in this race.

Kim-Khanh Van is a current Renton City Council member who is running for King County Council in District 9 to bring her experience and dedication to the county. After her family escaped Vietnam as refugees and settled in King County, she went on to earn her doctorate and become an attorney. Van credits the community for her successes and wants to provide families and residents with healthy, livable communities that include child care access and infrastructure maintenance. Outside of her work on the city council, Van serves in a multitude of organizations, including as a PTA president, a volunteer attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the co-founder of AAPI Against Hate.

Van has demonstrated that she is willing to take tough public votes on behalf of the most vulnerable in the community. She was one of only two members of the Renton City Council who voted to maintain the Red Lion Hotel as a source of housing for residents experiencing homelessness. In our interview, we were impressed with her in-depth knowledge about the issue and her desire to lead as a consensus and coalition builder at the county level. She wants to do more to educate voters on the economic and social benefits of providing supportive, stable housing early, rather than jailing people experiencing homelessness.

Van has done much advocacy work for marginalized communities. She understands the struggles that the Black, Latino, and Asian-Pacific Islander communities have faced historically and in the present, and vows to continue to stand with residents to make the county a place of opportunity for all.

Her opponent is Republican incumbent Reagan Dunn, who has served on the council since he was appointed and later elected to the position in 2005. Before that, he worked as a federal prosecutor appointed by President George W. Bush and was the national coordinator of a Department of Justice program that increases policing in neighborhoods. Dunn challenged Bob Ferguson in the 2012 race for attorney general and lost.

On the council, Dunn has been a consistent voice opposing the progressive reforms proposed by the rest of the council. In March, Dunn was the lone vote against giving grocery store workers $4 per hour hazard pay for their service on the front lines of the pandemic. In addition, Dunn was a vocal opponent of streamlining homelessness services between Seattle and King County. Instead, he proposed spending $1 million of taxpayer money on bus tickets to send people experiencing homelessness to other states, another shortsighted proposal that failed to address the root causes of the issue. In this campaign, he has emphasized his prosecutorial background and longstanding support of law enforcement without talking about how to increase accountability for law enforcement.

Van's strong experience and progressive values make her the best choice for King County Council in District 9.

Joe Todd is running for Renton City Council, Position 1 to bring new solutions and community perspectives to city hall. He currently works as the King County Deputy Chief Technology Officer.

In our interview with Todd, we were impressed by his thorough knowledge of city affairs and his dedication to serving the community. Todd pointed out that the city cannot reasonably solve the issue of homelessness on its own, and that a regional approach and improved relationship with the county would create better outcomes for all residents. He wants to use his technological expertise to help law enforcement track the issues they are responding to so the city can allocate resources most effectively. Todd also wants to launch something similar to the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, OR, which can dispatch trained caseworkers instead of police officers to help those experiencing mental health challenges. He supports both thorough police training and redirecting some funding from policing to human services to build stronger communities and prevent crime.

Todd is running against James Alberson. Alberson has served as a Renton planning commissioner since April 2020 and is a former board chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Alberson states that if elected, he will prioritize ensuring a strong business climate, reducing homelessness, and increasing housing affordability, among other priorities. However, in our interview with Alberson, we were disappointed that part of this proposal to address homelessness was mandatory participation in city programs. This focus on putting people in jail or building a new regional facility is a costly proposal that fails to address the root causes of homelessness and further isolates people from their support networks.

Todd's in-depth insight and commitment to Renton would be an incredible benefit to the city. We enthusiastically recommend Joe Todd for Renton City Council, Position 1.

Carmen Rivera is running for Renton City Council, Position 2 to leverage her professional background in social services for the people of Renton. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University's Criminal Justice Department, where her coursework incorporates a racial equity lens. Previously, she worked at the state's Department of Children, Youth, and Families at Echo Glen's Children's Center, counseling and providing treatment plans for struggling youth. She has also worked at Youthsource, where she engaged young people who had dropped out of school.

As a social services advocate, Rivera wants to prioritize updating Renton's Community Needs Assessment for Human Services, which would help provide the community access to food, shelter, and living wage jobs. She also wants to update Renton's 2011 Clean Economy Strategy, bringing it in line with today's standards on clean water, air, and reduced pollution. Additionally, Rivera will work hard to provide low-cost job training and emphasize the need for affordable and mixed-income housing.

Her opponent, Ben Johnson, runs a small IT business and has worked with the North Renton streets project, as well as serving on the City of Renton Airport Committee. His priorities include funding the police and fire departments, making neighborhoods attractive, and ensuring that Renton expands its transportation options through Sound Transit and the state department of transportation.

Rivera has overwhelming support from progressive organizations across the spectrum, from unions to housing advocates to educators. Her dedication to the community and progressive and bold vision for the city earns her our recommendation for Renton City Council, Position 2.

Incumbent Ruth Pérez is running unopposed for Renton City Council, Position 6. She was appointed to the council in 2014, and then elected again in 2015 and 2017. Pérez also served as council president in 2020. She worked in state government for Governor Gary Locke promoting trade and economic development. Pérez also helped expand Spanish-language education programs during her 10 years working for the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle.

Her campaign platform is focused on expanding access to affordable housing, continuing to build a strong economy, reducing crime and homelessness, and tackling the city’s transportation issues. As to her successes on the council, Pérez points to her efforts as a council member to lobby legislators on including Renton projects in the 2015 transportation package.

We were disappointed to see Pérez oppose local efforts to expand supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. We hope that she will take a more inclusive and forward-looking approach to this critical issue in her next term. Though she is more moderate, we recommend Ruth Pérez for re-election to Position 6 on the Renton City Council.

Dustin Lambro, president of the King County Labor Council and political director for Teamsters Local 117, is running for Public Hospital District No. 1 in District 2. Lambro has extensive community leadership experience and is a staunch workers’ rights advocate.

If elected, Lambro wants to restore a balance of power between UW Medicine and both its hospital staff and the community it serves. He would work to bring final decision authority back to the hospital commissioners elected by voters instead of trustees selected by the University of Washington. Additionally, Lambro would fight for the rights of frontline, health care workers to make sure that the hospital district has proper labor conditions.

Lambro is facing incumbent commissioner and veteran Jim Griggs, who currently serves as the president of the board of commissioners as well as the chair of the Finance & Audit Committee. Griggs formerly worked as an audit manager for the state's auditor’s office and is running on a vague platform to serve the valley, in his owns words, as a financial watchdog.

With his demonstrated progressive values and experience organizing for the public good, Dustin Lambro is the best choice for Public Hospital District 1, Commissioner in District 2.

Monique Taylor-Swan is running for King County Hospital District 1, Commissioner Position 4. Taylor-Swan is a community leader who serves as a board member of the caregivers union SEIU 775 and a member of the Renton Inclusion Task Force. She currently works as a home care aide with Washington's Department of Social and Health Services.

Taylor-Swan is running for commissioner to work towards more accessible, quality care in Renton. She wants to focus on proper staffing and making pay more equitable between the highest-paid executives and underpaid nurses and staff. If elected, Taylor-Swan will use an inclusion and equity lens to make sure that everyone who needs it can access culturally competent care at Valley Medical Center.

Taylor-Swan is running against Katie Bachand, a birth and postpartum doula. Bachand has been posting extreme conspiracies for months about the pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccine. She has promoted fake treatments, including a horse dewormer, that have been rejected by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, Bachand participated in the January 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. that sought to overturn the 2020 election results. Bachand's dangerous views are completely disqualifying for elected office, especially as a hospital commissioner. 

We recommend Monique Taylor-Swan because of her direct background in health care and her clear, progressive vision for the role.