By Aaron Kunkler
Bothell Reporter
BOTHELL — With nine state House candidates running for two seats, District 1 straddling the King-Snohomish county line offers one of Washington’s most crowded primary fields in Tuesday’s primary election.
The contests for the two-year terms include six Democrats and three Republicans vying to represent an area that includes Bothell, Kirkland, Brier and Mountlake Terrace.
The Reporter has compiled thumbnail descriptions of each candidate’s platforms from campaign websites and articles from the Everett Daily Herald and Reporter.
In the race for Position 1, incumbent Derek Stanford has three challengers: fellow Democrat Kazuaki Sugiyama and Republicans Neil Thannisch and Brian M. Travis.
Stanford said he wants to see the state more fully fund public education by supporting early learning, simplifying testing and recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers.
He also hopes to secure additional transportation funds for District 1 to combat congestion on area freeways.
Stanford points to his support of Buy Washington laws which give local and state companies first crack at government contracts, as well as the Public Works Trust Fund and Community Economic Revitalization Board.
He has worked as vice chairman of the Capitol Budget Committee to save open spaces and recreation areas, and supported the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program and state parks.
Sugiyama said he believes education can be improved through collaboration and work within communities, not necessarily through higher taxes. The state social worker believes that interest rates on college loans should be based on income after graduation. He opposes tolls, such as the ones placed on lanes of I-405 in his district.
A reservist with the U.S. Coast Guard, he said he would try to make sure promises made to veterans would be kept and hold accountable those responsible if they are not.
Sugiyama said he would only serve one term if elected. He is running as a Democrat but believes political partisanship can stifle progress. “Only when we put our community first and our political parties second will real positive change happen,” he said.
Thannisch pledges to address transportation issues, including congestion along Interstate 405. He sees current government solutions as an attempt at social engineering and unfairly taxing commuters.
He said the tolls on I-405 have succeeded in generating revenue for the state but have failed miserably in reducing congestion. He’d try to get rid of them.
As legislators grapple with how best to comply with the State Supreme Court’s McCleary decision requiring more money invested in schools, Thannisch said the state must move to a system that fully funds education and completely eliminates its dependency on local school levies for basic education. He also said school choice is needed “because through competition the products of private and public schools improve.”
Travis wants to remove tolls on state freeways. He also wants to repeal the “incredibly outdated and just plain unfair” Business and Occupation tax which is charged to a business’s gross sales. He’d like to replace it with a simpler corporate income tax with tax rates based on a company’s income.
Travis favors giving teachers the option of negotiating terms of employment outside of unions. He also believes the state Supreme Court’s McCleary ruling is unconstitutional and overreaching .
He supports a state constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate to raise taxes, imposing term limits for state lawmakers and making the head of the state Department of Transportation a cabinet-level position voted on every four years.
Position 2
The race for Position 2 includes five candidates. There is no incumbent after Rep. Luis Moscoso decided to run for the Senate.
Competing for the open seat are Republican Jim Langston and Democrats Aaron Moreau-Cook, Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, Shelley Kloba and Darshan Rauniyar.
Langston points to language in the state constitution that says public education is “the paramount duty” of the state.
“We must always make this the number one priority in our operating budget,” he said.
He’d focus on reducing congestion and said transportation solutions that take 20 years will not meet the problems of today’s traffic.
Moreau-Cook is focusing his campaign on reviewing government programs on a regular basis to increase accountability.
He also hopes to meet expectations set by the McCleary decision by reforming funding mechanisms, where districts with lower tax bases receive funding from wealthier districts as well as implementing a progressive tax system.
Moreau-Cook supports the Buffett rule which would keep the the wealthiest residents paying a tax rate not lower than middle class families as well as removing corporate tax exemptions, moving Business and Operations taxes from gross receipts to profit-based taxes and adoption of a tax expenditure budget for taxes and revenues.
He is also a supporter of paid family leave, raising the minimum wage to $13.50 in line with Initiative 1433 and ending daylight saving time.
Wright, a Mountlake Terrace City Council member, said it will be hard to know how much money is available for the next budget until education is funded in accordance with McCleary, an area she would focus on.
She lists the economy, environment, housing and transportation as priorities. Human services and homelessness are also high on her to-do list.
Kloba, a Kirkland City Council member, is focusing on education funding, affordable housing, health care access and environmental issues.
She hopes to bring the state into accordance with the McCleary ruling and to create a real estate excise and demolition tax to help address regional housing shortages.
Kloba has been an advocate for parks and open spaces and increasing access for residents to access health care. She said she would work toward laws to keep guns away from domestic abusers and those deemed dangerously mentally ill.
Rauniyar said he will work towards reducing congestion on area roads and bringing the area into focus for the Legislature.
He supports bringing light rail to the area and fixing choke points up and down I-405 as well as Highways 9 and 522.
He also plans on making public school funding a priority in accordance with the McCleary decision. He hopes to bring his negotiating skills to Olympia to fix transportation, public education funding and fiscal responsibility issues.
“I strongly support recommitting to technical education programs in our schools,” he said. “Every student no matter their skill set needs a pathway to graduation. Everyone who is willing to work hard needs a place in this economy.”
To learn more about the candidates, go to their campaign webpages:
Derek Stanford: www.derekstanford.com
Kazuaki Sugiyama: facebook.com/kazuaki.sugiyama.79
Brian Travis: http://www.freewaysfree.com/
Shelley Kloba: http://votekloba.com/
Darshan Rauniyar: darshanforhouse.nationbuilder.com
Jim Langston: electjimlangston.com
Aaron Moreau-Cook: https://www.facebook.com/voteaaron
Neil Thannisch: http://www.restorethehouse.com/
Kyoko Matsumoto Wright: votekyoko.com
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