Former Lake Stevens council member to run for 39th District seat
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 2, 2026
EVERETT — On Tuesday, the same day state Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, announced she would not seek reelection, Lake Stevens’ Steve Ewing announced his decision to run for the seat.
Since 2017, Eslick represented District 39, which covers most of Snohomish and Skagit counties. Her current term ends Jan. 11, 2027, one day before the next legislative session starts on Jan. 12.
Ewing, a former Lake Stevens city council member, announced his campaign with Eslick’s endorsement, along with Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, and Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley, both also representatives of the 39th District, a press release said. He has worked in corrections and mental health since 20o2.
“Steve has an impressive resume serving the people of our state,” Eslick said in the release. “I am happy to endorse and recommend him to the voters of the 39th District.”
Ewing is grateful for her support, he said in an interview Thursday.
“I really respect the tremendous work that Carolyn did in the legislature,” Ewing said. “But I think anyone who’s paying attention to things recognizes that we need to be honest and admit that Olympia isn’t meeting our basic standards for a functional state government.”
It’s time for the state to return to normal, he said in the release.
“Normal means our public schools focus on teaching,” Ewing said Thursday. “Normal means public safety. The experiments that started in Seattle with unreasonable limits on police are now being pushed statewide, and all of us are suffering from this extremism.”
He cited the state’s struggle to attract and retain police officers. A report released in February from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs shows that the state still ranks last in the nation for officers per capita, with 1.37 per 1,000 residents.
He also said Washington is doing a poor job teaching students to read. While data from 2024 shows that, on average, students are half a grade level behind in reading and math compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering from the pandemic remains a nationwide struggle.
In 2025, the state ranked 27th in education, based on analysis from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Washington ranked 26th in 2024 and 20th in 2015.
Moving forward, Ewing will continue to meet with members of the community, he said.
“It’s a very large and diverse district,” Ewing said.
He is familiar with the Lake Stevens community, having served on the city council, “ but I’m getting up to speed on the challenges of north county and southern Skagit County, and getting familiar with the great people that live in those areas,” he said.
As of Thursday, Ewing’s only opponent is David Garrett, a Democrat from Marysville. He works at Boeing as a structural design engineer and is a political newcomer.
Garrett’s campaign is focused on shifting the tax burden away from working families, making housing more affordable, supporting unions and apprenticeship programs, growing the state responsibly and funding public education.
“Carolyn didn’t have the best record for voting on pro-union legislation, and that’s why I was running against her,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Garrett will move forward as planned, he said. “Opponent name’s changed, but I feel I have the right motive and the right direction to go right now, and I’m going to keep going that way.”
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
