46th Legislative District

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.

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, and this year secured $31 million in federal funding for community projects in the Seattle area, including housing, sciences, education, and the environment.

Since her election to Congress in 2016, Jayapal has resisted the Trump administration and conservative extremists 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 also introduced legislation to expand collective bargaining and provide relief to workers and businesses during the pandemic. More recently, she has called for a national women's strike in response to the Supreme Court's ban on abortion and the curtailing of reproductive freedom across the country. Jayapal is also seeking to codify a transgender bill of rights to protect our country from the erosion of trans civil rights.

Her opponent, Republican Cliff Moon, founded Moon Construction Company and is running because he believes Congress needs more "normal" people. Unfortunately, he echoes Republican Party talking points about the 2020 election, opposes stronger gun safety laws, and he supports building a divisive border wall. Moon states that he's open to exploring a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks in a move to limit the reproductive freedom nationwide. While Jayapal is seeking to broadly improve the lives of her constituents with affordable housing, upgrades to infrastructure, and expanding childcare, Moon is focused on the conservative agenda of pouring more money into militarized policing. 

Jayapal is highly experienced and responsive to her constituents, and has held more than 100 town halls during her time in Congress. As chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, she has been one of the strongest progressive advocates in Washington for the needs of all in this country. Pramila Jayapal has earned your vote as a national leader for progressive causes.

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.

Rep. Javier Valdez is running for the 46th Legislative District Senate seat. Valdez was appointed to the state House in 2017 and was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. He also served as the first president of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees (AFSCME Council 2).

In Olympia, Valdez has worked to find equitable, progressive solutions to problems facing residents in his district. He supported legislation to prevent discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status, and he advocated for requiring the state to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

This year, Valdez sponsored several successful bills that protect our communities, including being the prime sponsor of the law to restrict ghost guns. He also sought to provide safe places for civic discourse by banning guns in settings like school board meetings and supported an alert system for missing Indigenous people.

Valdez deserves credit for sponsoring the middle housing bill, which would have provided more housing options around transit, and the wealth tax, which aimed to finally make the extraordinarily wealthy residents of Washington pay their share into education, transportation, and more. These two bills will be critical progressive priorities in the coming years.

Valdez is running against King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Gross. His platform includes making housing more affordable and tackling homelessness in the district. There is much to appreciate about Gross' platform - he wants to end exclusionary zoning and gradually increase the housing supply with duplexes or triplexes. He also wants to see more investments in the state Housing Trust Fund and mental health care.

While Gross is progressive, Valdez has swept nearly every endorsement from a broad spectrum of progressive organizations and elected officials. This reflects both the breadth of his platforms and his experience in lawmaking and legislative leadership. Rep. Javier Valdez is the best choice in this race.

Leesa Manion has worked as the chief of staff of the King County prosecuting attorney’s office for the last 15 years. She is now running for King County prosecutor to provide consistent leadership to the office and support important reforms to the criminal legal system. If elected, she would be the first woman and the first person of color in this role. Outside of the prosecutor's office, Manion has served several leadership roles, including on the boards of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, and as co-founding partner of Choose 180, which offers coaching and diversion programs to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system.

Manion's top priorities include tackling the backlog of 4,500 cases filed during the pandemic's work halt, increasing funding for reforms like mental health court, and intervening in gun violence before people become victims or offenders. High on her agenda is continuing to prosecute violent crimes while addressing racial disparities and providing culturally responsive care to victims.

In our interview with Manion, she offered compelling insights about the prosecuting attorney's office and how she would manage it if elected. She spoke of her experience building a well-functioning team and solid working relationships throughout the legal system, as evidenced by the fact that she earned the endorsement of SEIU 925, the union that includes public defenders. She also spoke about the need to apply racial justice principles to better reflect the values of the community, and invite the community to public listening sessions or possibly convene community advisory boards. Finally, Manion committed to spending more time going to monthly police and sheriff meetings to build relationships throughout the county.

We recommend Manion for her impressive platform and extensive track record of results, as well as the broad support of many progressive and Democratic organizations.

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.

Incumbent Judge Damon Shadid is running for re-election to his Position 7 seat on the Seattle Municipal Court. Shadid was first elected to the court in 2014 and has been a strong voice for treatment, support, and accountability on the bench. Previously, he worked in legal defense for women facing abusers in court as well as refugees and other non-citizen defendants. Shadid has also been a community leader in working towards racial justice in our legal system including founding the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington and serving on multiple equity-focused committees and projects.

Shadid has a progressive vision for the criminal legal system: delivering justice that keeps our community safe and connecting people with the resources and services they need to get out of the criminal legal system. He helped re-establish the city’s mental health court and has fought to involve case workers in court in a more effective, collaborative way. His judicial track record and commitment to progressive alternatives have earned him an impressive list of endorsements in this race including all Seattle-based Democratic organizations, local progressive officials, and key judicial leaders.

Assistant City Attorney Nyjat Rose-Atkins is challenging Shadid in this race. Outside the city attorney’s office where she has worked for more than a decade, Rose-Atkins works as a pro tem judge for the district court. She is running with a somewhat more conservative approach to the criminal legal system, including wanting to roll back diversion programs and alternatives that reduce prison overcrowding and help community members get the resources they need.

Shadid has been an exceptional leader in the court and is helping build a safer and more resilient Seattle. He deserves your vote for another term on the city’s municipal court.