District chooses Chase, Kagi

Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, appears to be well on her way to winning the November general election in the 32nd legislative district.

Chase was leading her Republican opponent, Alex Rion, 74.5 percent to 25.5 percent when early results were released Nov. 4.

The term will be the incumbent’s fourth as a state legislator. She won 64.6 percent of the vote in the August primary, against Rion and independent challenger Margaret Wiggins.

Chase joined a crowd of other 32nd District Democrats at an election night party at the Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrace. Approximately 900 people were in attendance, according to Chase.

“This place was jumping. I could feel the floor move,” she said at the end of the night. “It was unbelievable. I am very proud of people.”

Chase was unaware of the scope of her apparent win until a few people approached her with the news during the event. She said she expected to win the race but appreciated her opponent.

“I liked Alex,” she said. “I thought he ran a decent campaign.”

The 32nd District Republican party may be “few in numbers but very strong,” she added.

The 32nd legislative district includes Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, a portion of Edmonds and the town of Woodway.

Chase was first elected to the legislature in 2002. Throughout her campaign she maintained that education, the economy, the environment and health care are her top priorities. In 2008 she was a part of several legislative committees including the capital budget committee, the community and economic development and trade committee and the select committee on environmental health.

Now that she has all but secured her seat in Olympia, she says it will be back to business as usual while she works to fulfill her role as a state legislator.

Well, almost business as usual. Chase and a group who call themselves “Agents of Change” are planning to host an inaugural ball also at the Nile, in the near future.

“It’ll be a real ball. I might even dance,” she said “I danced tonight.”

Running for the legislative position was Rion’s first attempt at an elected office. He moved to Washington state in March after experiencing economic downturn caused by government spending in his home state of Michigan. He had hoped to work toward stopping financial mismanagement in Olympia if elected. In his first political endeavor, Rion raised slightly more than $9,300 while Chase’s contributions totaled nearly $21,200.

Rion was not able to be reached for a comment by The Enterprise deadline.

Rep. Ruth Kagi ran unopposed in her reelection bid for position two in the 32nd legislative district. The earliest results showed she had won 99.9 percent of the vote.