LAKE STEVENS — Public safety, then the economy, are the top priorities for Republican Carolyn Eslick if she’s re-elected to a third term in the 39th District. Her challenger Jessica Wadhams, a Democrat from Lake Stevens, said she’s focused on education, mental health and homelessness.
They’re vying to represent residents in a relatively rural swath of Snohomish and Skagit counties, as well as the northeast corner of King County.
Last year’s redistricting moved Lake Stevens out of the 44th District and into the 39th, allowing Wadhams to challenge Eslick, of Sultan. Meanwhile, the cities of Monroe, Gold Bar, Index and much of Arlington were carved out and moved to the 12th District.
The 39th District still leans Republican.
In this summer’s primaries, Eslick took 44.3% of the vote and Wadhams got 37.7%, defeating Republican Tyller Boomgaarden (11.8%) and Independent Kathryn Lewandowski (6%).
Eslick, 72, first held a public office in 1996, when she was appointed to the Sultan City Council. Wadhams, 36, has served as a community activist and volunteer.
As of this week, Eslick reported $44,859 in contributions, and Wadhams reported $26,999. The winner of the election will secure a two-year term.
Carolyn Eslick
“Public safety is No. 1 — that’s definitely what we hear at the door — and No. 2 is the economy,” Eslick said, on her priorities moving forward.
Eslick says she is “very unhappy” with a recent plan from the Criminal Justice Task Force to shorten criminal sentences by up to 30%.
“With today’s society and what the crime rate is like, this is not the time to shorten their terms in prison,” Eslick said.
She wants to see penalties reinstated for drug possession and would also like to “unwind” recent reforms that raised the bar for vehicle pursuits by law enforcement.
Eslick, a mother of six, owned and ran the Dutch Cup Restaurant for 20 years.
In 2008, she became the first woman to serve as mayor of Sultan, serving in that role for nine years. In 2017, the Snohomish County Council appointed her to fill a vacancy in the state’s House of Representatives left by John Koster’s resignation. Eslick won the appointment despite being the Republican party’s third-choice candidate.
The year following her appointment, Eslick campaigned for her first full term, ultimately defeating Democrat Eric Halvorson with 58.1% of the vote. Eslick went on to beat Democrat Ryan Johnson in the 2020 election with 63% of the vote, a margin of 21,234 votes.
Eslick serves on three House committees: Transportation, Capital Budget and Children, Youth and Families.
Eslick says House Bill 1800 is her proudest accomplishment in her last term, improving outreach and access to behavioral health services for minors through the Health Care Authority. Coined the “communication bill,” she said it ensures “government has the tools it needs to connect families, providers, and educators with up-to-date information.” The bill passed with bipartisan support.
She has also sponsored a bill to prevent homelessness among people leaving behavioral health settings and another bill to expand adolescent behavioral health care access.
In the primary, Eslick described herself as pro-life but did not suggest she would author legislation to roll back existing protections for access to abortion.
Regarding the economy, Eslick says affordability is a top concern. Legislators should enact tax relief, she said, and make home ownership and child care more accessible. She supports the state Republicans’ economic plan known as Safety, Affordability, Families and The Economy (SAFE) Washington.
Jessica Wadhams
“For those in the district that are worried about some Democrat coming in and doing some crazy stuff — that’s not at all what I want to do,” Wadhams said. “I want to make sure that I’m working for my constituents, not for an agenda I deem fit. It’s what the people want. That’s the job.”
The current stay-at-home-mom said she plans to increase access to diminishing public resources. She said she wants to see therapists assigned to every school in the Legislative district, to aid education and mental health.
Prioritizing mental health, she said, also helps get to a root cause of homelessness. Housing affordability must also be tackled, she said. Wadhams said she is pro-choice and committed to protecting reproductive freedom.
Wadhams said she understands how difficult it is to navigate government programs, such as the Department of Social and Health Services, and she’s motivated to improve them.
“People should vote for me because I am a better representation of them,” Wadhams said. “I’m a mom. I have children with special needs. I have ailing parents. I am a homeowner. I’ve been a worker all my life — not in some sort of CEO position, but just as a regular worker. I have a lived experience of what most of the people in my district are experiencing.”
Wadhams co-founded the social justice organization Lake Stevens Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Allies, saying it is important to create safe spaces for people to express themselves. She also cited her community volunteer work.
“When we don’t have representatives that are leading with that kind of lens, they’re missing a lot of the unintended consequences of their decisions,” Wadhams said.
She acknowledged public safety looms large on the public agenda. If elected, she wants to “bring law enforcement and the community along for the journey of what the Legislature is doing right now.”
“I know that they’ve had some hiccups in the beginning phases” of police reform in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, she said.
Wadhams ran for Lake Stevens City Council in 2021, but lost to Steve Ewing, who received 58.19% of the vote.
“Where I am today is light years ahead of where I was then,” Wadhams said.
Kayla Dunn: 425-339-3449; kayla.dunn@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @KaylaJ_Dunn.
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