Steve Cornell may be new to the area, but he’s already gearing up to represent the city of Lynnwood.
Cornell, a Libertarian, will run against Mike Huisman, Mary Helen Roberts and Roger Wilson in this year’s race for position one of the 21st District House seat. The position currently is held by Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, who is running for state Lands Commissioner.
Cornell and his wife, Sheila, moved to Lynnwood from Seattle four months ago. Cornell has worked in real estate for 20 years, and has never ran for nor held political office, he said. Previously, Cornell worked as an urban planner in Whatcom County, where he said he learned the ins and outs of government.
As for why he chose to run for the position, Cornell said, ” I live here, and the politics in Washington need a strong third party political voice.”
The three top issues Cornell would like to tackle if he is elected include generating more jobs throughout the state, legalizing marijuana and improving transportation.
To increase jobs in Washington, Cornell said he would like to make small businesses with 10 or fewer employees exempt from some taxes. This, he said, would encourage them and give them the financial boost to grow their business, thus creating more jobs.
As for legalizing marijuana, Cornell said he believes the state spends too much money on incarcerating people for “smoking a ‘victimless drug.’
“It’s really a victimless crime,” Cornell said.
Improving transportation, Cornell said, is a very tough issue. He doesn’t believe in a fixed rail solution like Seattle’s monorail, which, he explained, was one of the reasons he moved out of Seattle.
“We have to devote a majority of the tax dollars to improve the road infrastructure here,” Cornell said.
In addition, Cornell said that from his perspective, the state needs to “purge” much of its “government waste.”
“From a Libertarian perspective, we have to look at reducing taxes,” Cornell said.
Currently, Cornell said he plans to attend candidate forums but is not planning to do any doorbelling for his campaign.
“I’m just getting my feet wet,” Cornell said. “I want to get a handle on all the issues before I go out and talk to people.”
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