45th 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. Suzan DelBene is running for re-election to the U.S. House representing Washington’s 1st Congressional District. Since first being elected in 2012, DelBene has been a champion for working families, small businesses, and data privacy and consumer protections. This year, she served as the chair of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, a 98-member congressional caucus that seeks to find solutions that bring Democrats and Republicans together. She brings private sector experience from her background in tech, working at Microsoft early on and then leading a number of local startups.

DelBene has been a staunch advocate for bills to help Washingtonians and the rest of our country afford stable housing, find family-wage jobs, and access quality health care. She has leveraged her tech background to balance consumer rights with innovation to create protections that benefit us all. DelBene played a key role in passing the Child Tax Credit and is leading efforts to expand it going forward in order to reduce child poverty across the country. She also recently supported the bipartisan infrastructure law which sent federal funding to Washington to upgrade public roads, ports, broadband, and more. Now, she is running to keep protecting Social Security, Medicare, reproductive freedom, and community investments that help Americans afford the basics.

Mill Creek City Council member and sheriff deputy Vincent Cavaleri is challenging DelBene in this race. He wants to expand militarized police forces and send more people to Washington’s expensive and overpopulated prisons. Instead of Cavaleri's failed positions, we need greater investments in community solutions that compassionately address addiction, housing insecurity, and mental health so that we can all thrive.

DelBene is a pragmatic and hardworking Democratic leader who will continue to make progress at the federal level if she is re-elected. She deserves your vote to represent Washington’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dr. Kim Schrier is seeking re-election to her seat in the U.S. House representing Washington’s 8th Congressional District. Prior to serving two terms in Congress, she worked as a pediatrician and ran a local pediatric practice in Issaquah caring for kids and families across the region.

Schrier has consistently brought her professional health expertise and community-driven values to Congress. Unlike her Republican opponent, Schrier would support a federal law protecting reproductive freedom for all Americans. This term, Schrier supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill that will provide essential funding to improve local roads and bridges, as well as $19 million dollars for pedestrian safety projects in the 8th District alone. She also voted for Build Back Better, which would have provided funding for early education, extended the child tax credit, reduced the cost of child care, and combated climate change. If re-elected, Schrier wants to prioritize the everyday needs of working families as well as be a compelling changemaker on public health issues like affordable prescriptions, gun violence prevention, clean air, and access to healthy food.

Schrier faces a challenge from Trump Republican Matt Larkin, one of the most far-right candidates on the ballot in Washington this year. He is also one of the state's most staunchly anti-abortion candidates, calling for federal legislation to ban abortions nationwide, and even opposing certain contraceptives and Plan B options. Larkin is running on a Trump Republican platform that scapegoats our community members struggling the most. Larkin also joins some of the most extreme right-wing candidates in his refusal to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, ignoring the will of the people. 

Schrier has been a standout member of Congress working across party lines to get things done for her district. She has earned your vote for re-election.

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.

Sen. Manka Dhingra is running for re-election in the 45th Legislative District. Dhingra was first elected to the seat in 2017 and she now serves as the deputy majority floor leader. She is a senior prosecuting attorney in King County and she has worked in crisis intervention training for law enforcement, as well as with an array of diversion courts. Dhingra also helped start API Chaya, a well-respected resource for people experiencing gender-based violence in our community.

Dhingra has worked to foster justice, healing, and community safety while in office. Recently, she co-sponsored climate action legislation and voted for three key gun safety bills: banning ghost guns, banning firearms in certain locations like schools and government events, and prohibiting the sale of high-capacity firearm magazines. In this election, she is campaigning to fight for reproductive freedom and strengthen law enforcement training and accountability resources.

Republican Ryika Hooshangi is challenging Dhingra on a reactionary platform. Hooshangi is an attorney and former diplomat who works as an elected commissioner for the Sammamish Plateau Water District. She is running to pour more funding into militarizing and expanding police forces while stripping away accountability measures that keep our communities safer. If elected, Hooshangi would oppose efforts by progressive leaders to expand health care access and rebalance our tax code.

Sen. Dhingra deserves your vote for re-election to represent the 45th Legislative District and keep working for resilient and healthy communities.

Rep. Roger Goodman is seeking re-election to Position 1 in the 45th Legislative District 45 where he has been a reliable Democratic voice since he was first elected in 2007. Outside of the Legislature, Goodman is an attorney at a private practice and previously served on the board of Hopelink, a local organization that works to end poverty.

This past session, Goodman was a sponsor of key legislation to keep schools and government spaces safe from gun violence, direct resources towards missing Indigenous women cases, and invest in middle housing. He believes strengthening police accountability and providing support so all Washingtonians can meet their basic needs are what make our communities safer. If re-elected, Goodman would focus on protecting reproductive freedom in our state, improving mental health resources, and creating more affordable housing options.

Republican salon owner Cherese Bourgoin is challenging Rep. Goodman this year. Bourgoin currently serves as the vice president of Kirkland’s Chamber of Commerce board and ran unsuccessfully for Kirkland City Council last year. If elected, she would oppose community investments that improve our schools, oppose efforts to make health care more affordable, and would not create solutions to the housing crisis. Instead, Bourgoin wants to give tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy while putting more money towards expanding and militarizing police forces.

Rep. Goodman is the best choice in this race for House Position 1 in the 45th Legislative District. He deserves your vote to keep bringing effective leadership to Olympia.

Rep. Larry Springer is seeking re-election to the 45th Legislative District, Position 2 in the state House. Before joining the Legislature in 2005, Springer served on the Kirkland City Council, including four years as mayor. Outside of elected office, he runs a local wine shop and serves in a number of volunteer capacities including on the board of Hopelink, which provides emergency services for those who need them most in Kirkland.

Springer has advocated for community investments in Olympia so that we can all access the basics like housing stability, a quality education, and health care. His priorities this past session included providing support for small businesses, protecting salmon and our ecosystems, and investing in stable housing. Springer made progress on these issues and also voted to protect our communities from high-capacity firearms and to better balance tenant rights with landlord powers.

Far-right candidate John Gibbons is challenging Springer in this race. Gibbons previously ran for House Position 1 in 2020 when he wrongfully blamed the hardships many of us have faced due to the recent economic downturn on the “poor decisions” of working Washingtonians. Now, he is running to cut funding to the community services that are helping residents put food on the table, make health care accessible, and create more housing stability. Gibbon's campaign priorities also include stripping Washingtonians of reproductive freedom, divesting from essential public transit while funneling even more money to militarize policing in our communities, and repealing our state’s comprehensive sexual health curriculum, which has been approved by the Legislature and voters.

The voters deserve a representative who will stay in touch with the most pressing issues in our communities instead of getting distracted by conspiracy theories and divisive ideologies. Rep. Larry Springer is the clear choice for House Position 2 in the 45th Legislative District.

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 Michael Finkle is running for re-election to Position 6 on the King County Northeast Electoral District Court. Finkle has served on the district court since 2010, and he is widely respected for his judicial leadership and his accomplishments since joining the bench. Outside of court, he volunteers with the YMCA Mock Trial Program and a handful of other community projects.

Finkle is running to continue his work building up alternative courts, like the landmark mental health, veterans, youth, and community courts he worked to establish. He wants to work towards social justice through fair treatment in court and diversions to keep non-felony offenders out of prison so they can have a second chance. Finkle has received the highest ranking possible from six key bar associations and has earned widespread, bipartisan support in this race.

Joshua Schaer, an assistant attorney general in the state office, is the other candidate in this race. Schaer has worked in trial law and serves as a pro tem judge. He has yet to share campaign priorities as of early October and lacks the experience and recommendations of his opponent.

Judge Finkle has done an impressive job on the court and deserves your vote for another term serving on the King County Northeast Electoral District Court bench in Judge Position 6.