It’s not often that a 27-year-old candidate can claim more experience than his opponent, but that’s the case in one race for state Legislature this year.
State Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, is 27. He served two years on the Mukilteo City Council until he was appointed to a vacancy in the Legislature last January.
His opponent, Republican Andrew Funk of Mountlake Terrace, turned 19 in August. He’s worked on some campaigns but never before run for public office.
He said he’s running because each of the three elected officeholders in the 21st District, all Democrats, ran unopposed in 2006 and he wants to provide an alternative.
Funk is a full-time student, attending Central Washington University through its branch at Edmonds Community College, majoring in accounting and business administration. He received an Associate of Arts degree in those subjects from EdCC in April after graduating in 2007 from Edmonds-Woodway High School. He took college classes under the Running Start program while he was still in high school.
Liias hit the ground running on the Mukilteo City Council after he was elected in 2005. Among his projects was a successful push to have biodiesel distribution legalized in the city. A biodiesel dealer had been forced to stop selling the alternative fuel at the Mukilteo Farmers Market after a conflict with the law was discovered.
Liias was appointed to fill the vacancy created when former Rep. Brian Sullivan, who previously had served as Mukilteo mayor, was elected to the Snohomish County Council.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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