30th Legislative District

Jamila Taylor is running for re-election to the 30th Legislative District, House Position 1. Taylor is an attorney who advocates for crime victims and has an extensive record of volunteer service. She previously served as the statewide advocacy counsel for the Northwest Justice Project where she managed a network of legal aid attorneys and has worked on youth intervention programs and other violence reduction efforts. Taylor was elected chair of the state Black Members Caucus this year, where she advocates for racial equity for all Washingtonians.

In her first term, Taylor sponsored successful bills to restrict the open carry of guns in public places like school board meetings, establish the state's first statewide digital equity plan, and create a system to locate missing Indigenous people. She was the prime sponsor of legislation that will expand scholarships for community and technical college students. She also supported increasing housing options near transit to alleviate the state's housing crisis. If re-elected, Taylor wants to work on crime and violence prevention, affordable housing access, and health care.

Taylor has three Republican opponents this year. Casey Jones states that he is a Federal Way police commander with 23 years in law enforcement who, unsurprisingly, wants to increase prosecution. Unfortunately, law and order is the only campaign agenda point on his website. This doesn’t speak to an interest in the majority of work that a legislator needs to do to keep their communities healthy and whole, including protecting our water and air, supporting great education, addressing the housing crisis, and more.

Republican Janis Clark is a perennial candidate who has run for many offices over the years, including Tacoma City Council, legislative representative, and mayor of Tacoma. She was removed from the Pierce County Charter Commission in 2005 after a court record of a military court-martial conviction was discovered. Though she has a bare-bones agenda available on her site, noting that she will support military families and pour more money into policing, Clark's failed 2020 run for the 30th Legislative District showed that she would support a very conservative agenda if elected.

Finally, Iraq veteran Paul McDaniel characterizes poverty and people struggling in the community as "moral decay." He promises to combat this by pouring more community resources into law enforcement, rather than connecting people with the health, job, and housing resources they need to thrive.

The 30th District doesn't need more abrasive and divisive rhetoric. As we begin to recover from the pandemic, the district needs someone who can bring together communities and write legislation that works for everyone. Taylor has shown that she is a progressive and capable legislator, and she has earned your vote in the 30th Legislative District.

Rev. Dr. Carey Anderson is running for state Senate in the 30th Legislative District to leverage his long history of community building for the benefit of all the district's residents. Anderson has served on several community organizations, including Democrats for Diversity and Inclusion, Washington Equity Now Alliance, and King County Regional Homelessness Authority. His leadership role as pastor in the historically Black First African Methodist Episcopal Church offers a different perspective than most elected officials in Olympia.

Anderson is unique among many candidates this year in that a large part of his work has been direct-to-community service through his church. He describes the $31 million housing project, with nearly 200 units of affordable housing, free produce and grocery drives, and vaccination sites as some of the direct impacts he's contributed as a church leader. First A.M.E. owns several hundred units of affordable housing across at least 13 buildings as of 2019, and Anderson wants to see the state lead on more housing, including units with wraparound services for those with additional behavioral health needs. In contrast to his opponent Reeves, Anderson backed zoning changes that would allow for more types of homes to be built as well as potentially lifting the statewide ban on rent control.

On social and economic issues, Anderson wants to see more economic investment in communities of color. Specifically, he noted that he's working with the Washington State Cannabis Alliance of African Americans to expand Black cannabis businesses. He also supports efforts like the wealth tax, which would create more equity for middle- and lower-income Washingtonians by finally making the extraordinarily wealthy pay their share. On the environment, Anderson supports a cap on statewide greenhouse gas emissions among other measures and he recently reaffirmed his support for abortion.

Anderson is a good choice if you're looking for a candidate who is deeply rooted in and experienced in advocating for the community.