Walla Walla County

Sen. Patty Murray has been a consistent and strong progressive voice in the U.S. Senate. She's seeking re-election to continue fighting for our basic rights and a better quality of life in Washington and beyond.

Murray was first elected in 1992 and has been a champion for veterans, working families, women, and economic opportunities for all. Before her tenure in the Senate, Murray worked as a preschool teacher, on the Shoreline School Board, and in the Washington state Senate.

During her time in Congress, Sen. Murray has worked hard to keep our communities safe from gun violence, protect abortion access at the federal level so that everyone has reproductive freedom, and expand access to affordable childcare. This year, she voted in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, and a slate of other progressive bills that invest in working communities so that our country is a place where everyone can thrive. Murray has earned an impressive and diverse coalition of endorsements from local and national organizations, elected leaders, and unions.

Sen. Murray faces Tiffany Smiley, a triage nurse running on a MAGA Republican platform. Smiley has never held public office but she previously worked on Capitol Hill. Her Trump-inspired agenda aims to divide us while she seeks to cut funding from our most essential services and repurpose it for a needless border wall and more militarized police forces. Working Washingtonians need real solutions so that we can access the basics like gas, groceries, rent, and prescription medicine – not MAGA rhetoric and tax breaks for the wealthy.

Sen. Patty Murray is a national leader on many of the most important issues facing our country. She has earned your vote for re-election.

Natasha Hill is running for Congress to be a progressive advocate for everyone in the 5th District, not just the wealthy few. She grew up in Spokane utilizing community resources like SNAP and later experienced homelessness and food insecurity while pursuing her law degree. Now Hill wants to ensure that no one should have to struggle through poverty to get an education in America. Hill currently owns her own law practice and has also served as an adjunct law professor and a member of the Spokane County Redistricting Committee.

Hill is running to focus on addressing the disparities between working people, seniors, and families and the extraordinarily wealthy corporations that have dominated politics and the economy for decades. Hill wants to make the child tax credit permanent, expand rural health care options, and raise the minimum wage so that any American can meet their basic needs on forty hours of work a week. She also wants to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and overturn obstacles to the vote for youth and people of color. In our Spokane committee's interview with Hill, she expressed strong support for strengthening unions, codifying the right to abortion, and reimagining education, health care, and the criminal legal system.

Hill is challenging Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is running for re-election to the office she has held since 2005. With a 95 percent record of voting with Trump during his presidency, McMorris Rodgers is one of the most damaging lawmakers in Washington. She voted yes on Trump's border wall, supported his trillion-dollar corporate tax cut, and was the only representative from Washington to vote for Trump's bill to cut $800 billion from Medicaid. She voted against raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and has refused on multiple occasions to hold town halls to answer to her constituents for her votes. McMorris Rodgers also voted against extending benefits for military veterans exposed to toxic pit burns, questioned the FBI's search for Trump's unsecured and critically classified documents, and stated that she believes the 2020 election had "significant irregularities," despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

McMorris Rodgers has consistently stood in the way of abortion rights, including attempting to defund Planned Parenthood and its many services to the community. In an early September, she accused Democrats of fearmongering about a national abortion ban; two weeks later her colleague Lindsey Graham introduced one in Congress.

The district needs progressive representation to make meaningful advances in the lives of people here and across the country. For her bold platform in this time of crisis and widening inequity, as well as her broader organizational support, we recommend Natasha Hill for U.S. Representative of the 5th Congressional District.

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson is running as an independent to bring a non-partisan voice to the secretary of state's office. Anderson served on the Tacoma City Council before running for county auditor in 2009 and winning re-election three times. As Pierce County auditor, which is a nonpartisan position, she has administered dozens of elections while also overseeing licensing and public record-keeping.

Anderson is running because she believes political parties shouldn't be involved in running elections they are simultaneously trying to win. Her campaign priorities include supporting more local races becoming non-partisan, increasing access to voting and election information, and improving election security. She wants to translate the voters' pamphlet into 10 languages, going beyond what is mandated by the Voting Rights Act. She also wants to conduct risk-limiting audits in all 39 Washington counties and "pre-bunk" rumors to increase confidence in our state's election systems.

During our interview, Anderson expressed support for ranked choice voting because she believes it will allow candidates to break through our two-party political system. This is one of the biggest points of difference between Anderson and Hobbs.

Anderson offers voters an experienced option if they are looking for a nonpartisan administrator to manage our state's elections and support ranked choice voting.

Real estate agent Jeff Strickler is challenging incumbent Rep. Mark Klicker for House Position 1 in the 16th Legislative District. Strickler previously worked in software consulting and believes that his recent experience in real estate gives him insight into housing policy for the district.

Strickler is running to make key investments in community needs so that residents in the district can access quality education, health care services, and housing. He wants to prioritize community-first economic development to bring more sustainable jobs and financial security to working families. If elected, he would help the district turn to renewable energy that will protect the environment, improve the health of local kids and families, and create good jobs. Strickler also wants to address the affordability crisis by expanding housing options, improving access to health care, and creating more child care that families can afford.

Strickler's opponent, incumbent Republican Mark Klicker, favors tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy while opposing investments to help working families in Washington access high-quality education, health care, living-wage jobs, and housing security. He also opposes action to fight climate change despite the devastating impacts of record heat and droughts on local families and agriculture. Outside of the Legislature, Klicker operates a real estate company focused on selling farm and forest land as investment opportunities.

Residents in the 16th Legislative District deserve a representative who will bring our communities together and advocate for the resources we need to thrive. Jeff Strickler is the best choice in this race and deserves your vote for Position 1.

Retired small business owner Jan Corn is challenging Republican Rep. Skyler Rude for Position 2 representing the 16th Legislative District. Corn ran a local hair salon for more than 20 years before retiring, and she serves on the board of the Walla Walla Noon Rotary Club. She was previously also a board member for the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce and Community Council and has strong experience in community leadership.

Corn is running on a campaign platform to ensure all residents can meet their basic needs and have the opportunity to thrive. She is focused on helping residents access health care, afford child care, and secure stable housing. Corn believes that her experience and perspective as a small business owner would be an asset in the Legislature.

Republican Rep. Skyler Rude is running for re-election to the seat where he has served since 2015. Previously, Rude worked in the insurance and telecommunications industries. In office, he has ignored the science on COVID-19 policy and tried to cut funding to community services that help working families afford rent, prescription medicine, gas, and groceries while giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy. In the most recent legislative session, Rude voted against legislation to keep Washington communities safe from high-capacity firearms as well as bills to reduce the state’s carbon emissions and create a more sustainable climate.

We recommend Jan Corn for House Position 2 in the 16th Legislative District to bring progressive values to the Legislature.

Democrat Michelle Morales is running for Walla Walla County prosecuting attorney to replace James Nagle, who is retiring this year. Morales is a deputy prosecutor in the county office and a first-time candidate. She had a family member caught in the criminal legal system without supportive services and has pursued a more holistic, community-based definition of justice as a result.

Morales is running on a platform of change to bring modernized, efficient, and accountable leadership to the prosecutor’s office. If elected, she wants to offer victim support, deliver equal justice, pursue alternatives to incarceration when applicable, and expand mental health, addiction, and housing resources. Her progressive view of community safety involves both holding those who perpetrate harm accountable and making investments in prevention and treatment.

Gabriel Acosta is Morales’ Republican opponent in this race and Walla Walla’s chief deputy attorney since 1991. He and the outgoing prosecutor represent a more conservative leadership of the office. Acosta is running on a vague platform to put more people behind bars without pursuing alternatives or prevention.

We recommend Michelle Morales for Walla Walla County prosecutor to bring new leadership to the county office.

Danielle Garbe Reser is running a write-in campaign to challenge two Republicans for the Walla Walla County Commissioner seat in District 3. Reser joined the race to give voters a Democratic choice in the general election. She is a former diplomat and CEO of a private foundation that makes community investments in local economic development. Reser ran for state Senate in 2020 on a progressive platform and serves the community in a number of board and volunteer roles.

Reser is exceptionally well-qualified, having dedicated her career to community leadership, public service, and making Walla Walla a better place for everyone to live. Her top priorities in this race include economic growth that helps us all, expanded health care access for all, a strong democracy, and an accountable government. She wants to defend our right to choose whether and when to grow our families, and will also prioritize modernizing government operations to save taxpayer dollars and improve efficiency.

There are two Republicans in this race: Darren Goble and Gunner Fulmer. Goble works in the agricultural sector and has served as a local school board director and fire commissioner. Though Goble’s campaign platform is sparse, he supports cutting funds that go to community services and public infrastructure and is running with Republican values.

Fulmer is the administrative sergeant for the Walla Walla Police Department and previously served in the military and for the local fire department. He is running on a Trump-inspired “law-and-order” platform that advocates for militarizing and expanding local police forces in order to put more people behind bars. His reactionary approach to public safety won’t make us safer and ignores what will: ensuring everyone has affordable housing, health care access, food on the table, and living-wage jobs.

Reser is the best choice in this race. In the line designated for write-in candidates under Walla Walla County Commissioner, District 3, write “Danielle Garbe Reser” and fill in the oval beside it.

Justice Mary Yu is running unopposed to continue serving on the state Supreme Court. Yu was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2014, elected by voters to the seat later that year, and re-elected in 2016. Before joining Washington’s highest court, she spent 14 years as a trial court judge in King County Superior Court and earlier as the deputy chief of staff to former King County prosecutor Norm Maleng.

Yu has an unimpeachable reputation and has been rated “exceptionally well qualified” by a number of key bar associations. On the court, she has been a voice for equal justice and upholding the rights of all. Now, she is running with endorsements from all of her fellow justices as well as a number of retired justices from the court.

Justice Yu deserves your vote to continue serving as one of Washington’s state Supreme Court justices.

Justice Barbara Madsen has served on the state Supreme Court for 30 years and is running unopposed for re-election this year. She was only the third woman to serve on the court when she was first elected in 1992. During her time on the court, her fellow justices elected her the 55th chief justice of the court – a position she held for 7 years.

Having spent her career in both prosecution and public defense, Madsen has extensive knowledge of the criminal legal system and a passion for serving her community. Her re-election has been endorsed by each of her fellow justices and a wide range of other judicial leaders and community organizations.

Justice Madsen has served the state with fair and equal justice. She deserves your vote to remain in her seat on Washington’s Supreme Court.

Justice G. Helen Whitener is running unopposed for re-election to Position 6 on Washington’s Supreme Court. Whitener became the first Black woman to serve on the state’s Supreme Court in April 2020 when she was appointed to fill a vacancy by Gov. Inslee. Later that year, she won her election to fill the remainder of the term. Prior to joining the Washington Supreme Court, Whitener served on the Pierce County Superior Court and worked as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney before becoming a judge.

Justice Whitener is both a Trinidadian immigrant and openly gay, and has worked to be a representative voice for justice for all in the state’s highest court. In this race, she has earned the endorsement of each one of her fellow justices as well as some retired justices. Whitener has been rated as "exceptionally well-qualified" by a number of bar associations and has done an exceptional job since joining the court.

Whitener is an important voice on the State Supreme Court and deserves your voice to continue serving as a justice in Position 6.