The race for the 10th Legislative District Senate seat involves a challenge to one of the region’s most powerful state legislators.
Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, has served for 12 years in the state Senate, after 10 years in the House. As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Transportation Committee, she wields considerable clout in prioritizing highway projects.
She is running on that experience, as well as the seniority she has earned.
“If I’m not there, you’re probably going to have a (Transportation Committee chairperson) from somewhere out of Seattle,” Haugen said.
Challenging her in the Nov. 2 general election is April Axthelm, R-Mount Vernon, and Brett Wilhelm, L-Greenbank.
Axthelm spent eight years on the Mount Vernon City Council and is co-owner of a construction business. Her business experience has taught her that the state overly regulates and taxes small businesses, she said. To improve the economy, she supports changing the state’s business taxes from gross revenues to net income.
Improving the economy would help other issues, such as health care, because of the boost in jobs that offer health insurance, Axthelm said.
She challenged Haugen’s record on transportation issues. Axthelm wants the state auditor’s office to do performance audits, not just financial audits, of the state Department of Transportation to cut waste.
“My opponent has opposed those in the past,” Axthelm said.
Haugen said she supported forming a citizens’ performance-audit board to do the job. But expectations of big cost savings usually don’t pan out, she said.
“While I support performance audits, for (Republicans) to think they will save the world is ridiculous,” Haugen said.
Wilhelm, the Libertarian candidate, framed his positions around his party’s central theme, “In a free country, who decides – government or you?” he said. “If the question is peaceful, Libertarians feel you should get to decide.”
He supports giving patients and doctors more control over medical decisions and converting public schools into a privately run free-market system.
On the environment, polluters should be forced to pay full restitution, Wilhelm said.
Haugen and Axthelm each said they differed from each other on farm issues.
Haugen, one of the architects of the Growth Management Act in 1990, supports the law’s attempt to protect farmland from urban sprawl.
Axthelm said she supports that goal, but not always the method.
“We need to respect the property rights of the farmers as well,” she said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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