With less than two weeks until election day, there has been much talk about the presidential race.
But there are also a few local races in and around Redmond that are on the upcoming ballot. Here is a recap of the candidates who are running.
45th Legislative District, Position 1
Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) is the incumbent for the 45th District, Position 1.
Since he first took office in 2007, public safety has been a primary focus of his political career.
As previously reported, Goodman’s “signature issue” has become reducing harm by making communities safer and some of the issues he has tackled include drunk driving and domestic violence.
If re-elected, he said his top priority is to finish funding public schools, per the 2012 McCleary decision that forced the state Legislature to fund public education properly.
“Education is our top priority and it’s time to step up for our kids,” Goodman said on his website. “I’ve worked successfully to expand early childhood education, and now I’m focusing on the K-12 grades. We urgently need to provide FULL funding for our public schools, but we have fallen short. We now face a statewide teacher shortage and classroom shortage – we can wait no longer to hire and reward our dedicated teachers and to build new schools.”
Goodman stated that mental health as well as affordable housing in his district, which represents most of Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Sammamish and Duvall, is another important issue for him.
Ramiro Valderrama (R-Sammamish), current deputy mayor for Sammamish, is challenging Goodman.
As previously reported, Valderrama is running for state office because residents in Redmond and Kirkland were facing similar issues as Sammamish residents and felt they were not being heard by state lawmakers.
Prior to becoming deputy mayor, Valderrama sat on Sammamish City Council for four years and founded Citizens for Sammamish, a grassroots group that works to give citizens a voice outside of city council meetings.
“Over the last ten years,” he states on his website, “I have worked for the citizens to ensure their voices are heard, promote balanced dialogue and leverage the considerable diversity, knowledge and expertise within our community.”
One of the biggest issues he plans to address if elected to state office is transit and traffic congestion. In earlier reports, he said the amount of money being spent statewide on this is not balanced with the level of service that Eastside residents are receiving.
Valderrama is also concerned about growth and said there should be a balanced approach that considers the environment, character of a city and the properties in question.
Education, mental health and homelessness are other important issues for Valderrama.
45th Legislative District, Position 2
Incumbent Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) is running unopposed for the 45th District, Position 2.
Springer, who has been in office for 12 years, currently serves on the Appropriations Committee and Finance Committee. He is also the Deputy House Caucus Majority Leader.
As previously reported, Springer has worked to create affordable housing. This work included getting a bill passed that allows the county to speed up bonding capacity to allow several hundred units of affordable housing to be built quickly.
In this upcoming term, Springer said a top priority will be finding a way to fully fund K-12 education to comply with the McCleary decision.
Springer is also looking to reshape or eliminate tax exemptions and close or modify tax loopholes. He also plans to keep an eye on public safety, mental health care access, homelessness and affordable housing.
“We have unprecedented challenges facing us, fully funding K-12 education, assuring Washington remains competitive in attracting new business and jobs, dealing with a mental health crisis, and addressing a growing problem of homelessness, all while protecting the environment we all cherish in this extraordinary state,” he said on his website.
48th Legislative District, Position 1
Patty Kuderer (D-Bellevue) is the incumbent for the 48th District, Position 1.
She was appointed to the position last year by King County Council when Ross Hunter left to head Washington’s Department of Early learning.
Kuderer’s top priorities are education and funding for education.
As previously reported, she said good public education is the key for kids to compete in the global economy. However, she said, the Legislature needs to fully fund basic education.
If re-elected, Kuderer also hopes to address congestion on I-405. While she supports Sound Transit 3, she states in earlier reports that lack of affordable housing in her area still adds to congestion as people who work in her cities are priced out of housing and forced to commute to work.
She also would also like to see closer scrutiny of the SR-520 bridge off Medina and has signed a letter asking the governor to stop deconstruction until more environmental permits have been obtained.
Kuderer also plans to encourage local police departments to work with their communities to develop best practices when it comes to integrating body cameras in police work.
Michelle Darnell of the Libertarian Party is challenging Kuderer.
The Kirkland resident first became invested in politics during the housing market crash in 2008, which opened her eyes to the hardships people were experiencing.
As previously reported, if elected, one of the issues Darnell would like to address is to repeal the state Deed of Trust, in which a property title is transferred to a bank-appointed trustee.
Income inequality is another major issue for Darnell. Though, she said she could only support an increase in the minimum wage if it was offset by tax breaks for small businesses.
When it comes to transportation, Darnell thinks light rail will be obsolete by the time it makes it to the Eastside and self-driving cars will begin to emerge as a market force.
In education, Darnell’s vision includes the state giving families vouchers for students. These vouchers would allow students to attend a public, private or charter school.
According to her website, Darnell is running to be a voice for homeowners, small businesses and students, families and teachers.
48th Legislative District, Position 2
Joan McBride (D-Kirkland) is the incumbent for the 48th District, Position 2.
As previously reported, she decided to run for state office because she was concerned about what was happening at the state level.
McBride — who has served on Kirkland City Council and as deputy mayor and mayor — currently serves on four house committees: environment, local government, rules and transportation.
Since taking state office, transportation has been an ongoing issue of concern for her. McBride has been working to change some of the tolling rules on I-405.
If re-elected, McBride would like to focus on affordable housing as there needs to be local options and state funding to help create and preserve affordable housing.
Fully funding K-12 education is also important to McBride and she said legislators need to figure out how to best support school districts.
Another focus for McBride will be a public records bill as there are a few instances in which the state’s current system does not work well, such as harassment or excessive requests.
Ben Phelps of the Libertarian Party is challenging McBride.
“We need new leadership and new ideas in Olympia if we are going to bring people together to live better and more free lives,” he said on his website.
As previously reported, the Bellevue resident has been the regional director of the Libertarian Party for King and Snohomish counties since March and it was through this position that he was encouraged to run for state office.
One of the issues Phelps is concerned about is criminal justice reform. In earlier reports, he said he would like to see people be able to learn, grow and move on — something that won’t happen if the system continues to treat drug addicts as criminals.
Phelps would also like to address affordable housing. He said the state needs to relax some of its zoning laws so developers are able to build more higher-density affordable housing.
Phelps is also concerned about public education, saying Democrats and Republicans alike are responsible for the fines the state Legislature has to pay for being found in contempt in regards to the McCleary decision.
