By The Herald Editorial Board
Of the three seats in the 39th Legislative District, two of them — the House’s Position 1 and the Senate seat — drew multiple candidates, challenging two incumbent Republicans and putting those choices before voters for the Aug. 6 primary election.
The 39th Legislative District includes much of Snohomish and Skagit counties, primarily east of I-5, with the exceptions of most areas of Arlington and Marysville.
The two candidates receiving the most votes in the primary will face each other again in the Nov. 5 general election. Both candidates for the House Position 2 race between incumbent Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, and Republican Jackie Huey are automatically on the general election ballot.
Senate
Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley, who was appointed to his seat in 2018, then won elections in 2018 and 2020, is challenged by Tim McDonald, a Democrat who previously served four years on the Arlington School Board, and John Snow, also an Arlington Democrat and U.S. Navy veteran.
All three were interviewed by the editorial board.
McDonald, a Vietnam War veteran, draws on a diverse career background to inform his positions, including work as an airline pilot, logger and tree farmer and contractor. McDonald expressed concerns for affordable housing availability but is wary of regulations, such as a cap on rental increases that could hurt smaller landlords. He also chafes at the amount of lakeshore and shoreline property that is privately owned, cutting off waterfront access to the public.
“In the case of Lake Stevens, you need enabling legislation to allow the city to purchase properties as they come up for sale,” he said, offering residents more than “a tiny little point of entry.”
McDonald also has undertaken salmon habitat restoration work on his tree farm and wants to see the state facilitate similar voluntary efforts on private property. He also sees an opportunity to employ more young adults in such work.
Snow, who served 14 years in the Navy as a medic deployed in the Persian Gulf, logistics officer and other positions before medical retirement, came to the state while serving in the Navy and has remained active in the American Legion and VFW and volunteered with the county’s Veteran Homelessness Committee. Snow, if elected, said he hopes to serve on the House veterans affairs committee.
Snow said his priorities include the continuing affordable housing crisis, health care, access to economic justice and environmental sustainability.
One key to housing affordability, Snow said, is finding ways to keep people in their homes, with specific concerns for older residents facing difficulties with rising property values and taxes. He seeks further the opportunities for property tax exemptions.
Snow also said he would focus on funding for education, specifically support such as counseling and assistance that would lessen the time burden on teachers.
Wagoner, also a Navy and Marine veteran, and with a career agriculture background, described himself as a “workhorse” in the Senate since his appointment, serving on ways and means, law and justice and natural resource committees. He also serves on the joint legislative audit and administrative review committees and was co-chair of a work group that examined potential reforms to the state’s package of taxes.
Wagoner, in coming sessions, said he hopes to continue focus on law enforcement and public safety issues by improving the tools for police; on affordability and taxes, successfully fighting a proposal to allow local governments to increase property taxes by more than the 1 percent now allowed; and on education, reversing what he sees as a slip from the reforms made in response to the McCleary mandate.
Wagoner, even in the minority, has had success in sponsoring legislation, including bills that adopted a voluntary watershed stewardship program and another that allows county councils or boards of commissioners, rather than the Legislature, to increase the number of a county’s district court judges. As well, Wagoner was key to securing support and funding for behavioral health improvements.
Two bills that Wagoner plans to refile would double the amount of revenue going to local governments from retail cannabis sales; and likewise return more revenue from liquor sales to local governments, rather than the state’s general fund.
Wagoner’s self-description as a “workhorse” isn’t hyperbole; his service on the noted committees and others has resulted in his elevation in his caucus as the Senate’s No. 4 Republican. At the same time his work has been solution-oriented, with an eye toward the needs of his district and the state as a whole.
Wagoner, who promised he still has “some juice in me,” should get a second full term to add to his representation of his district and accomplishments.
House, Position 1
Incumbent Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, drew three challengers: Arlington’s Kathryn Lewandowsky, running as an independent, Democrat Zephaniah Borynack and Republican Robert Sutherland, who lost the seat to Low in 2022.
Borynack did not respond to an invitation to participate in an interview. Sutherland declined the invitation. The board interviewed Low and Lewandowski jointly.
Lewandowsky has run for office previously, including a 2020 run for Senate against Wagoner.
She has served for more than 30 years in nursing in multiple fields and has represented fellow nurses as chair of the state nurses association’s bargaining unit with experience as a negotiating team leader and mediation officer.
Her work in nursing has informed her concerns about health care access. As she has in earlier campaigns, Lewandowsky supports a change to Medicare for All. The current system, while she said is working as designed, still isn’t serving those who continue to suffer without adequate access to services and treatment,
She said she would back a House version of a Senate bill that would regulate the acquisition of health care facilities, limiting the mergers that are consolidating hospitals, clinics and offices but not helping access to care. The inequity of for-profit health care, she said, is leading to other problems, including homelessness.
Lewandowsky said she supports recent support adopted to improve behavioral health care access, but considers much of it a band-aid when more fundamental reforms for health care are necessary.
Low is among a handful of officials who are serving in more than one office. Along with his state lawmaker work, Low also serves on the Snohomish County Council. Low said the work load has been manageable, and actually allows a synergy that informs his work for both roles.
As to his work load, Low noted that in his first two sessions he introduced 14 bills, 10 of which received public hearings, seven of which were voted off the House floor and five that were signed into law. Among the successful legislation were bills on animal cruelty, another that allows rural counties to use its local sales tax for the construction of affordable workforce housing, and a third that improved voter registration list accuracy through better methods for change of address updates.
On the issue of affordable housing, Low said he’ll try again on legislation that was voted unanimously out of committee, but did not advance that would have eased counties’ approval of detached accessory dwelling units, commonly called mother-in-law apartments. That bill, he said, would fill a need for more housing options in rural counties.
Low, chair of the state Transportation Improvement Board, also hopes to focus on transportation issues in coming sessions.
And regarding counties’ court systems, Low said he hopes to pursue legislation that would improve state support of district courts, costs for which are now borne 95 percent by county government. He’s seeking a 50-50 split on those costs.
Low, like Wagoner in the Senate, has shown the effectiveness of “workhorse” Republicans, who even in the minority in both chambers work effectively within their party and across the aisle on practical, problem-solving legislation.
Low, having demonstrated he can handle the workload of two positions, should be returned to his House seat.
Election info
Along with editorial board’s endorsements, voters also are directed to their local voters’ pamphlet, the state’s online voters guide at www.vote.wa.gov and a series of recorded candidate forums available at the website of the Snohomish County League of Women Voters at lwvsnoho.org/candidate_forums.
The county voters’ pamphlet was mailed to registered voters on July 17; an online version is available at tinyurl.com/SnoCo2024Primary.
Ballots, mailed July 18, can be returned by mail or placed in one of several county election office drop boxes. Ballots must be postmarked or placed in a drop box before 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6. A list of locations for official drop boxes is available at tinyurl.com/SnoCoElexBox.
More information on voting, registering to vote and the primary and general elections is available at tinyurl.com/ElexSnoCo.
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