Representatives from the 32nd Legislative District are charged with making constituents in two different counties happy.
Fortunately, the major issues facing people in a tiny section of southwest Snohomish County and north King County are pretty much the same: transportation, the economy and the budget. Unfortunately, all three things are in dire straits and it’s going to take some magic to fix the mess.
Short of that, this district’s best bet is with Darlene Fairley, Bob Ransom and Ruth Kagi.
Fairley, the incumbent, deserves to keep her seat in the state Senate. She appears to use her time well in Olympia. Fairley, a Democrat, is chair of the Capital Budget Committee and wrote the capital budget that was passed last session. She’s also active on several other committees.
Her challenger is Republican Michael Plunkett, who doesn’t seem to be actively campaigning for the spot.
Ransom, a Republican, is the best-qualified candidate for the Position 1 seat. Ransom has worked his way through public service in Shoreline. He is well-versed on the issues and his background suggests he would be a legislator who could make the tough cuts while looking for ways to preserve long-term state goals and responsibilities such as education and transportation.
Incumbent Maralyn Chase has been involved in the Democratic Party for years and was appointed to the seat in January. She believes this is a critical time to make decisions for our state and lists the budget, transportation and education as the biggest issues facing the Legislature in January.
Kagi, a Democrat, is running to keep her Position 2 House seat for a second term. This time around she believes the Legislature will have to look even harder at the foundation of the budget through a zero-based budgeting process — a term we heard several times this election season, but mostly from Republicans.
Kagi is being challenged by Margaret Wiggins — a Republican who serves as a commissioner for the Northshore Utility District. Despite her experience there, Wiggins doesn’t appear to understand the gravity of the $2 billion shortfall, referring to it in simplistic terms — not as a loss in planned revenue, but as money the Legislature just wanted to spend.
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