3 candidates look to unseat incumbent in 1st Legislative District

Published 6:30 am Thursday, July 16, 2026

EVERETT — Three candidates are looking to unseat 10-year incumbent Shelley Kloba from a state House seat in the 1st Legislative District.

The 1st District encompasses parts of south Snohomish County and north King County, including Brier, Bothell, Kenmore, Woodinville and Lake Forest Park.

Kloba, a Democrat, was elected to the Legislature in 2016. She faces Bothell Deputy Mayor Jenne Alderks, engineering manager Jeff Lyon and construction company owner Cliff Moon. All three challengers are from different parties, with Alderks running as a Democrat, Lyon as a Libertarian and Moon as a Republican.

In June, Lyon told The Daily Herald that he intended to suspend his campaign for personal reasons. His name will still appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.

The county mailed ballots out July 15. The top two vote-getters will move on to the Nov. 3 general election.

Jenne Alderks

Alderks, 41, is a human services specialist for Snohomish County. She also serves as deputy mayor for the city of Bothell.

If elected, Alderks’ priorities would include universal healthcare, improving behavioral health services in schools, suicide prevention, climate change and affordable housing.

Alderks would hope to pass a bill to establish the Washington Health Trust, which would create a universal public insurance program. In 2025, a bill to establish the program died in committee. That year, the city of Bothell passed a resolution saying that universal healthcare is a public safety need.

Alderks also said she views universal healthcare as suicide prevention. In 2022, Alderks’ mother died by suicide after her health insurance company denied to cover mental health care she needed.

“I truly believe she would be alive today if she had had access to the healthcare that was denied to her,” Alderks said.

Alderks’ daughter had trouble receiving educational services because she was receiving mental health support.

“She felt like she was falling behind,” Alderks said. “I think it’s really important for parents to be able to bring that lived experience to shape policy at the state level.”

Alderks said she’s grateful for the work the Legislature has done so far when it comes to affordable housing, but the state is going to have to make investments to achieve that vision, she said. One example, she said, is the Bothell Urban Project, which came to fruition because the state made it legal for cities to donate land to organizations looking to build affordable housing.

In Bothell, one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions is vehicles, according to the city’s climate action plan. Alderks would look to reduce the need for commuting by car by prioritizing affordable housing and public transportation. Another main source of emissions is buildings, and Alderks said she’d look to help buildings transition from natural gas to electrification and incorporate more green building standards.

Another priority for the 1st district specifically, Alderks said, is transportation access. She said she’d advocate for stronger connections to the light rail spine.

Alderks is endorsed by Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson, Woodinville Mayor Sarah Arndt and Snohomish County Council Member Jared Mead, among other elected officials. She also has endorsements from the First District Democratic Party, King County Democrats and Snohomish County Democrats, among other organizations.

As of Wednesday, Alderks had raised $11,462 in campaign contributions, according to state filings.

Shelley Kloba

Kloba, 59, has served in the state Legislature since 2017. She previously served as a Kirkland City Council member and as the legislative director for the Washington State Parent Teacher Association.

If re-elected, Kloba’s priorities would include tax fairness, equitable school funding and technology, including data privacy and guardrails on artificial intelligence.

Kloba said the Legislature took steps in the right direction when it passed the capital gains tax in 2022 and the “millionaires tax” last session. She’d look to continue that work while ensuring that cities have the resources they need.

When it comes to education funding, Kloba would prioritize special education. She is working on reassessing school funding formulas to make funding more equitable for each district.

“The formulas that we came up with when I was working on those issues in PTA, they were an improvement over what we had before,” she said. “But in the last 15 years or so, education has changed, the world has changed and the needs have changed.”

Kloba said she has been a leader on technology issues, including data privacy and data brokers. A lack of data privacy can lead to issues such as targeted disinformation campaigns, safety risks from location data and negative impacts to financial health.

“I will continue to push forward on those, there are barriers and headwinds, given that we’re in the center of a huge, technology-rich area, and that is fantastic, and there are so many innovations, but we also need to make sure that the people’s voice and the consumer protection perspective is embedded in everything we do,” she said.

An issue impacting the 1st District specifically, Kloba said, is affordability. Some of the challenges, she said, have come from federal cuts to programs like Medicare and Medicaid and school lunch and education funding.

“To the extent that there are dials that we can turn, I want to make sure we’re doing that,” she said.

Kloba is endorsed by State Sen. Derek Stanford, State Rep. Davina Duerr and Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig, among other elected officials. She also has endorsements from the Snohomish County Democrats, Washington State Labor Council and Washington Conservation Action, among other organizations.

As of Wednesday, Kloba had raised $38,489 in campaign contributions, according to state filings. She also carried over an extra $4,219 from her previous campaign.

Jeff Lyon

Lyon, 48, is an engineering manager living in Woodinville.

In an email to The Daily Herald, Lyon said he intended to suspend his campaign for personal reasons unrelated to politics. His name will still appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.

In an interview with The Herald before he suspended his campaign, Lyon said his priorities were restoring local control of zoning and developing regulations and eliminating state taxes for households making under $125,000 per year by implementing a 2% tax on artificial intelligence.

As of Wednesday, Lyon did not have any endorsements listed on his campaign website.

As of Wednesday, Lyon had raised $59 in campaign contributions, according to state filings.

Cliff Moon

Moon has owned a construction company for 54 years and lives in Lake Forest Park.

Moon did not respond to requests for an interview. One of Moon’s main issues, according to his voter pamphlet statement, is affordability, including lowering taxes the cost of gas, groceries and utility fees.

“I am running to represent people that want to raise their kids, work hard, and have money left at the end of every paycheck,” he said.

He also said that “parents should raise their children” and “schools should focus on academics.”

Moon supports law enforcement, public safety and legal immigration, he said.

“Olympia’s moral compass has been displaced, and common sense has been ignored,” he said in his voter pamphlet statement.

Moon is endorsed by the King County Republican Party.

As of Wednesday, Moon had not reported any campaign contributions, according to state filings.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.