17th 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.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to represent Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. Perez identifies as a working-class Washingtonian and she co-owns a family auto repair shop with her husband. She also serves as the executive director of the Stevenson Downtown Association, which is a part of the Main Street America coalition to bring economic vitality to all communities. Additionally, Perez serves as an elected member of the Underwood Soil and Water Conservation District board.

Perez is running on a progressive platform to champion the needs of working families and improve the quality of life for all her constituents, particularly those in rural areas. As a working mom and small business owner, she is especially passionate about making health care and child care more accessible to all Americans. If elected, she also wants to protect reproductive freedom, represent the needs of rural residents, invest in clean energy, strengthen workers’ rights, and address the rising cost of living so that we can all afford the basics like rent, gas, and groceries.

Perez is the clear choice in this crowded race. She deserves your vote to represent the 3rd Congressional District and fight for progressive change at the federal level.

Doug White is the sole Democrat running for U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District. His platform is focused on protecting the local environment and expanding rural health care. He has worked for multinational businesses and comes from several generations of Central Washington farmers. 

White's focus would be a huge change from incumbent Dan Newhouse's conservative policies as well as the proposals of the MAGA Republicans in this race. He believes that climate change needs to be mitigated by local energy from solar and wind. White believes immigrants need a path forward to citizenship and that more must be done to secure affordable housing for all, provide a safety net for seniors and the vulnerable, and that infrastructure from waterways to broadband internet need to be modernized and rebuilt. Unlike most of his opponents, White also supports passing a law to protect reproductive freedom for all Americans.

White is broadly endorsed by many Democratic organizations, unions, and more. For his willingness to take on the district's and nation's biggest issues, like protecting water and building up communities more equitably, we recommend Doug White for Congress for the 4th District.

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.

Democrat Terri Niles is running for Position 1 in the 17th Legislative District to replace Republican Vicki Kraft, who vacated this seat to run against Jaime Herrera Beutler. Niles is a labor organizer who has worked for 20 years as an ICU nurse. She is also a Clark County Charter Review Commissioner and president of the Clark County Democratic Women, among other leadership roles. Niles supports increasing apprenticeship and trades programs, strengthening the workforce, creating clean energy solutions, and supporting local businesses. For her pro-worker platform, Niles has been endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council.

There are also three Republicans in this race. Anthony Ho is the president of the Oregon Court Security Officers Association and has previously held roles in Homeland Security investigations. Much of Ho's agenda is reactionary - against Democrats, police accountability, climate-saving light rail, and gun violence prevention. Ho promises to reduce regulations on businesses, which exist to protect workers and the environment, and wants to see Republicans ushered into offices across the state.

Hannah Joy serves in the Skamania County Republican Party. Like fellow challenger Kevin Waters, Joy's campaign emphasizes anti-abortion legislation that would follow the Republican trend of eliminating reproductive freedom. She mentions government overreach in education and property rights but makes no detailed statements about what kinds of bills she would support, though she implies that she would not be a strong supporter of public schools.

Kevin Waters is the owner of the Backwoods Brewing company and a former commissioner of the Port of Skamania. His inclusion of a sticker from an anti-choice PAC shows his support for stripping Washingtonians of reproductive freedom. He states that he will fix infrastructure, reduce business regulations, and pour more money into law enforcement. However, we know that safety doesn't come from driving wedges between communities or more and more militarized police. The district needs investment and care as communities begin to recover from the pandemic.

While we hope all the candidates this year expand their platforms with more details about their potential policies if elected, only one candidate this year is progressive. Vote Terri Niles for state representative in the 17th Legislative District.

Democrat Joe Kear is running for the 17th Legislative District, Position 2 to bring good jobs to the district, support working people, and increase the community's access to everyday needs. Kear has served as a Democratic precinct committee officer for ten years, as well as former vice chair and current secretary of the Skamania County Democrats. He has also worked extensively in labor, including on the Northwest Oregon Labor Council and the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council. If elected, Kear wants to support better broadband internet access, expand child care and mental health resources, support clean energy, and protect forests.

Kear has three Republican opponents. Earl Bowerman has unsuccessfully run for several offices in the past few years. He challenged U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in 2018 because he thought she wasn't loyal enough to former President Donald Trump. In 2019, while Bowerman was the Clark County Republican chair, his own members attempted to recall him for ruining party finances and his failure to act against a committee chair who had been convicted of inappropriate behavior with a teenage girl. This year, Bowerman is running to fight against toll roads and reverse community accountability measures for law enforcement.

Incumbent Republican Paul Harris has occasionally bucked the party line for public health measures, for example sponsoring bills that would raise the age for buying tobacco products to 21. However, he has disappointed voters with his votes on numerous commonsense health measures, including voting against this year's bill to preserve access to abortion care and a bill allowing people suffering from domestic violence to seek help virtually during the pandemic. He has also opposed bills aimed at fixing our state's upside-down tax code, for example, by closing wasteful tax loopholes for special interest groups, as well as voting against prohibiting the sale of high-capacity gun magazines, earning him a 92% rating with the NRA.

Perennial candidate Justin Forsman has run for numerous offices since 2015, including Vancouver City Council and mayor, state senator, and state representative. He is running this year for Legislature to fight against gun violence prevention measures, stop water fluoridation, provide safe housing, and in his own words, fight tyranny.

The communities of the 17th District need new progressive leadership. Vote Joe Kear for Position 2.

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey has served the public in this role since 1999. He is a certified election administrator and a former union member. Before joining the auditor’s office, Kimsey held leadership positions in business and finance including as the chief financial officer for a Vancouver-based company.

Kimsey is proud of his office’s track record of accuracy and accountability in election results. He has shared that every audit has confirmed the original results since he took office. For his consistent and responsive leadership, he was named “Auditor of the Year.” If re-elected, he wants to keep bringing integrity and accuracy to the office to build trust in our democratic systems and deliver quality licensing and recording services to the county.

Brett Simpson is a far-right candidate running on an “election integrity” platform that promotes distrust in our auditor’s office and further spreads the lie that the 2020 election results were invalid. He works in construction and land development and is a member of the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United. This conspiracy group was sanctioned by the state’s attorney general’s office for bringing a meritless fraud lawsuit against the state aimed at overturning the 2020 election results.

Clark County voters deserve an auditor who will honor the will of the people and follow the facts on election security, not the words of a former president who wants to install himself and others from his party into office without the necessary votes.

Greg Kimsey is the clear choice in this race. He deserves your vote to remain Clark County auditor.

Environmentalist and climate activist Don Steinke is challenging incumbent Nancy Barnes for the District 2 seat on the Clark County Public Utilities District. Steinke is a retired teacher who has received recognition for his climate justice work in Clark County and Washington broadly. Now, he is running to make the Clark County PUD a leader in electric and green utilities.

Steinke’s platform is focused on bold climate action with the overarching goal of helping the office drastically reduce emissions. If elected, he wants to modernize the PUD to bring it in line with the renewable energy goals of the county and work with other local government to actualize environmental protections. As a respected climate activist in the area, Steinke has earned broad community support in this campaign.

Incumbent commissioner Barnes first joined the PUD in 1992 and is running on a status quo platform that primarily emphasizes the PUD’s stable rates and reliability, though she does list some environmental goals on her campaign website. Outside of the PUD, Barnes is also a board member of the American Public Power Association.

Carol Dillin, a retired officer with Portland General Electric, is also in this race. Dillin is running to keep bringing reliable service to Clark County residents while centering a clean, sustainable climate future. However, her platform lacks the depth of her opponents’ in this race.

Don Steinke has the strongest vision for a sustainable climate future and the role of the PUD in bringing it about. He deserves your vote for PUD commissioner in District 2.