21st 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. 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 in the U.S. House to help Washingtonians and the rest of our country achieve stable housing, living affordability, family-wage jobs, and accessible health care. She has leveraged her tech background to balance consumer rights with innovation to create protections that benefit us all. DelBene was a key legislator in getting the Child Tax Credit passed and leads the effort to expand it going forward in order to keep putting cash back in the hands of working families and reducing 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.

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.

Progressive Jason Call is challenging Larsen for Congress in Washington's 2nd District. He is a high school math teacher who serves on the board of Whole Washington, which seeks to provide universal health care to everyone in the state. Call got his start in activism by protesting the first Iraq War and worked his way up to running for Congress. In 2020, he came up just 1 percent short of qualifying for the top two general election contest with Larsen in this relatively safe Democratic district.

Call is running on a sweeping platform that includes Medicare for All, free college, ending student debt, a Green New Deal, and a housing guarantee to help end our housing insecurity crisis. When it comes to public safety, Call supports banning assault rifles and wants to end the transfer of military equipment to police forces. He was proud to be named a Green New Deal champion and refuses to take any money from corporate PACs.

Beyond Larsen's failure to sponsor key legislation, Call is quite critical of the way Larsen has led the Aviation Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee. Rather than prioritizing aviation, Call believes we need to transition rapidly to using more high-speed rail and transit to fight climate change.

During our interview, Call acknowledged that many of his policies would require substantial structural changes to become law. He told us that he wants to use his candidacy - and if elected, office - as a platform to build grassroots support for progressive policies. His long-term goal is to build support for electing enough progressive senators to eliminate the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.

While Call faces a challenging race against a longtime incumbent, he provides an alternative for those looking for bolder progressive leadership than Larsen.

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.

Sen. Marko Liias has been of the state's best progressive advocates for youth and future-focused transit. He was first elected to the Mukilteo City Council in 2005 before being appointed to the state House in 2007, and finally the state Senate in 2014.

As the Democratic Senate floor leader, Liias has led the fight for LGBTQ+ equality and created a student loan bill of rights. In the 2022 session, Liias led on a major transportation package that will expand trails, fund ferries and high speed rail, and let kids ride free on public transportation across the state. He also sponsored bills limiting the sale of high-capacity gun magazines and expanding student loan forgiveness. His past legislative accomplishments include passing a ban on the inhumane practice of conversion therapy and creating a new state financial aid program for undocumented students.

After running for Edmonds City Council last year and losing to Will Chen, Republican Janelle Cass is now challenging Liias for state Senate. Her housing plans would not produce enough homes to offer relief to renters and homeowners in the district who are struggling with rising costs. The homelessness policies Cass proposes focus on attempting to arrest our way out of the problem instead of demanding that everyone deserves a fair shot at a home with a door that locks and access to services.

Liias has been a strong force for progress in the Legislature and is by far the best choice in this race.

Democratic Rep. Strom Peterson is running for re-election to represent the 21st Legislative District in House Position 1. Prior to joining the Legislature, Peterson served on the Edmonds City Council for six years where he proved to be a capable and thoughtful leader.

In Olympia, Peterson has had a hand in passing several important progressive bills. This year, Peterson sponsored legislation to limit the sale of ghost guns and restrict guns in certain public locations like school board meetings. He also sponsored the wealth tax, which would finally make Washington's extremely wealthy pay their share for the resources that we all use, and he supported the middle housing bill to expand housing around transit.

In previous years, Peterson was a sponsor of Breakfast Before the Bell, which provides meals for hungry students. In 2018, he was the primary sponsor of the Secure Drug Medicine Back Act, an innovative program to limit the usage of unused and expired prescriptions in Washington communities.

Peterson faces a challenge from Republican Amy Schaper. She filed to run for this office close to the election deadline, and as of mid-July her website is inoperable and her candidate Facebook page is mostly empty. She does have a graphic from 2021 that states that she opposes reproductive freedom and comprehensive, age-appropriate sexual health education.

Peterson is the clear choice for Legislature in this race.

Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self is running for re-election to the 21st Legislative District, House Position 2. She is a mental health counselor in the Everett School District, and an active member of the community, focusing on childhood education and strengthening health services.

Since joining the House in 2009, Rep. Ortiz-Self has emerged as a progressive champion for improving the health and well-being of youth and families across Washington. She is co-chair of the state’s Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee and serves on the National Council of State Legislators' Education Committee as well.

This year, she was the prime sponsor of the bill to prevent the state from contracting with private prisons, and also supported the successful bill to reduce the sale of large-capacity gun magazines. Previously, Ortiz-Self was the prime sponsor of bills to increase student access to counselors and provide resources for homeless college students. If re-elected, she wants to continue strongly funding education, increase resources for mental wellness, and pass more evidence-based gun violence prevention legislation.

Ortiz-Self has two opponents this year: Republicans Petra Bigea and Jenifer Short. Bigea unsuccessfully challenged Ortiz-Self in 2018. She is running on a vague MAGA platform to rescue capitalism and restore constitutional rights. Like many Republicans this year, she is trying to turn us against schools and teachers by injecting politics into the classroom and seeking to deny students an honest and accurate education. Short has an inoperable website and no campaign materials readily available as of mid-July.

The district needs a serious representative who will protect the health and opportunities of everyone. Rep. Ortiz-Self has earned your vote in this race.

Jason Cummings is running to serve Snohomish County as the county prosecuting attorney. Cummings has worked in the Snohomish County prosecutor’s office since 1999 and, for the last 14 years, has been the chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney there. He has spent his free time in a number of community leadership positions including as president of the Imagine Children’s Museum board.

Cummings wants to lead the prosecutor’s office with transparency and integrity. As a lead on the Data Collective Initiative, he also has a strong focus on understanding racial and ethnic disparities in Snohomish so that the prosecuting office can deliver equitable and accurate legal services for all residents. In this race, Cummings has received many local and statewide endorsements to bring his extensive experience and a strong sense of justice to the seat.

Brett Rogers is a lawyer and former Seattle Police Department officer who is also running for prosecuting attorney. Like many of his fellow Republicans, Rogers wants to use police, jails, and prisons as a catchall solution for the social issues facing our communities, which is both more expensive and less effective. His views on crime and punishment echo antiquated, right-wing beliefs that don’t make our communities safer.

Jason Cummings is the best choice in this race. He deserves your vote for Snohomish County prosecuting attorney.

Gold Bar City Council member Jordan Sears is running on a climate-focused platform for Snohomish County PUD commissioner in District 3. Sears is an openly LGBTQ+ candidate and became the youngest city council member in the state when he was first appointed in 2019. Last year, voters elected him to retain the city council seat and, outside of the office, Sears works for a credit union and serves as president for the local Democrats.

Sears is running to prioritize working families and climate solutions as PUD commissioner. His platform is progressive and responsive to the most pressing environmental concerns of the district, including investing in energy alternatives, beginning the process to remove the snake river dams, and connecting with schools to build environmental learning. Sears also wants to make sure that the office has the funding it needs to carry out its responsibilities and continue leading on climate action. He has earned endorsements from environmental, progressive, and Democratic groups and elected officials in this race.

Incumbent commissioner Tanya (Toni) Olson is running to continue serving District 3 on the county PUD. Olson has been in this seat for 18 years and also serves as a member of the American Public Power Association and Northwest Public Power Council. She does not share the same progressive vision as Sears for the office.

The other candidate in this race is Ken Maertens, a Navy veteran and mechanical engineer. Maertens says that one of the reasons he is running for this seat is that “[he has] time on my hands.” His platform emphasizes the ideal of planning for the future, however, he doesn’t have a focus on environmental sustainability nor any concrete policy suggestions yet in this race.

Jordan Sears is the best choice to represent Snohomish County’s District 3 as a Public Utility District commissioner.