34th 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 higher 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, pass abortion rights 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. 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. 

Jayapal is responsive to her constituents and has held over 100 town halls during her time in Congress. She is the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has been one of the strongest progressive advocates in Washington for the needs of all in this country. Pramila Jayapal has earned your vote.

Stephanie Gallardo is a progressive teacher and first-generation Chilean American challenging Rep. Smith this year. She lived on the University of Washington campus until she was 10 years old while her parents were finishing their education. She has taught history in the Tukwila School District and was elected to serve on the Washington Education Association board.

Gallardo's lived experience has shaped her platform and campaign for office. She supports Rep. Jamaal Bowman's Green New Deal for Public Schools Act, which would invest billions in green retrofits for school buildings, hire hundreds of thousands of new educators, and improve accessibility on campuses. She would also back Sen. Cory Booker's legislation to provide comprehensive and medically accurate sexual health education for all students.

Foreign policy is Gallardo's other top priority. During our interview, she stated that her family's escape from Chile as political refugees showed the danger of our country's "expansionist foreign policy." If elected, she would add her name to Rep. Jayapal's bill to prohibit the U.S. from aiding Saudi Arabia in their war with Yemen. She also wants to redirect some of the historically large defense budget that Smith writes to invest in education and fighting climate change. On community safety, Gallardo expressed support for revoking immunity for gun manufacturers, banning assault weapons, and prohibiting the military from transferring powerful equipment to law enforcement.

Gallardo's platform and experience offer a clear contrast for voters looking for a progressive alternative, particularly on foreign policy, to Rep. Smith.

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson is running as a nonpartisan candidate to bring an independent 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 as a nonpartisan candidate 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 nonpartisan, 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.

While Hobbs spoke more about using cybersecurity to protect our elections, Anderson leaned on her professional expertise to describe ways to expand our democracy. She believes, for example, that the state should redouble its efforts to reach voters with disabilities. By using a secure, expert-vetted electronic ballot similar to those used for overseas military voters, Anderson sees a path forward to reach those who don't always have access to vote.

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. She supports grants for local jurisdictions that are interested in trying ranked choice voting so that it's not unduly expensive for local governments, and so that auditors can learn more about how to manage and implement it.

Anderson offers voters an experienced option if they are looking for an independent to administer our state's elections.

Incumbent Sen. Joe Nguyen is running to continue bringing strong progressive leadership to the state Senate from the 34th Legislative District, where he has served since 2018. Outside of the Legislature, he has spent almost a decade at Microsoft as a senior program manager. He is running to put people over politics and keep helping Washingtonians access the resources they need to thrive.

This year, Nguyen sponsored a bill to prohibit the sale of high-capacity firearm magazines and keep our communities safe from gun violence. He also supported Move Ahead Washington, a historic policy package that will upgrade the state’s public transportation while making it more accessible for all and reducing our environmental impact. Throughout his first term, Nguyen’s priorities have included working toward environmental justice, balancing our state’s upside-down tax code, reforming our broken criminal justice system, and making sure all Washingtonians have equitable opportunities.

Nguyen faces a challenge from four candidates in this race. Republican John Potter is a paraeducator with the Highline School District and a member of the Teamsters Local 763. Potter would bring extremely conservative views to office if elected. He has a transphobic opinion of gender affirming health services and wants to revoke our freedom to decide whether and when to grow our families by trying to ban safe, legal abortion. Potter’s approach to the housing crisis is to vilify our neighbors struggling to secure stable housing while cutting funding for the community services so many of us rely on.

Tony Mitchum, who has worked in the restaurant and insurance industries, is running without stating a party preference. He lacks community leadership experience and does not have a campaign website as of mid-July. However, if elected, he says he wants to bring some health care services to residents, privatize employment agencies, and offer free breakfast and lunches to kids.

Local cafe owner Amber Bennett is also in this race as an Independent. Though she is running on a platform to put community first, she has opposed raising the minimum wage so that, as living costs rise, working families can afford the basics like rent, health care, groceries, and gas. Bennett would prioritize business owners and said she wants to work with cell phone companies to disallow students from accessing the internet while at school. She is not a progressive candidate.

Goodspaceguy is a perennial candidate who runs with empty, conservative platforms to oppose progressive incumbents in King County. He is not a serious candidate and his campaign ideas are obstacles to making our communities safer, healthier, more affordable, and equitable.

Joe Nguyen has fought to make our state a place where all families and communities can thrive. He deserves to be re-elected and is the clear choice in this race.

School librarian Leah Griffin is a statewide advocate for survivors of sexual assault. After police refused to test her rape kit, she worked with state officials on legislation that led to testing all 11,000 of the state's backlogged rape kits, passed a survivor's bill of rights, and more. Griffin also worked with Sen. Patty Murray on the federal Survivors’ Access to Supportive Care Act, founded the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) Task Force, and organized for the R-90 campaign for age-appropriate sexual health education.

Griffin is now running for the Legislature to advocate for more access to behavioral health care, public safety reform, and affordable housing. In our interview with Griffin, she elaborated on the immense need for more behavioral and mental health care across the population - for frontline workers with PTSD, youth, teachers, people experiencing homeless, and many others. She wants to see counselors embedded in union halls and wraparound services at shelters, specifically, giving care at the point of need where people can access it. As a victim of violent crime, Griffin states that a lack of behavioral health care, housing, and education are the undercurrents for crime and putting people in prison without resources is morally bankrupt. Griffin also wants to see an increase in green energy like tidal power, community-centered childcare programs, and greater unionization of workers.

Both Griffin and Alvarado are broadly progressive and support bills like the capital gains tax, which aim to flip Washington's deeply regressive tax code to stop favoring the ultra-wealthy. Griffin is a good choice if you are looking for a candidate with a long record of grassroots advocacy who will focus on expanding health care access. 

Environmental advocate Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon is running for re-election to Legislative District 34, Position 2. Fitzgibbon worked as a legislative staffer and served on the Burien Planning Commission before joining the Legislature in 2010.

Fitzgibbon’s top focus is the environment, and he is running for re-election to build on his impressive track record of success. Fitzgibbon played a leading role passing clean fuels legislation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead to cleaner air. In addition, he supported legislation to cut plastic bag pollution, reduce gender pay disparities, and improve gun safety laws.

This session, he also passed bills to streamline the permitting process for salmon recovery projects, increase the construction of affordable housing, and expand coverage of paid family and medical leave. His other priorities in office include addressing mass incarceration and inequities in our criminal justice system, expanding voting rights, and investing in public transportation.

Software engineer and Republican Andrew Pilloud is running to roll back progressive victories in Olympia. He does not have elected experience but volunteers with a robotics program. Pilloud's policy details are not comprehensive. He mentions mental health and addiction as the drivers of homelessness without addressing the cause that local housing experts have pointed to for years: the lack of affordable housing options. Pilloud also makes vague statements about criminals and a confusing statement about abortion that implies that he does not fully support the freedom of Washingtonians to decide for ourselves whether and when we have children.

Rep. Fitzgibbon has been one of the most effective progressive legislators in Olympia and has earned your support for another term.