HOUSE RACES TO WATCH

Last month the RHAWA Government Affairs team covered a range of State Senate Races to watch so to follow up we will be reviewing some of the House of Representative races to keep an eye on and some of the key candidates to watch.

___________

DISTRICT 4

This district spans the greater Spokane Valley area and has a wide swath of candidates. Running to keep her current seat is Representative Susan Schmidt (R) who is running for her third term in Position 1. Representative Schmidt has previously worked as the CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Association and has been a supporter of the housing industry. For a more in-depth look at Representative Schmidt please see my candidate interview write-up on the next page.

The field is interesting for the Position 2 seat as there are six candidates campaigning. The current Position 2 Representative, Leonard Christian (R), is now running for the Senate seat vacated by Senator Mike Padden (R) who has decided to retire. Another candidate aiming for the Senate seat is Mike Kelly (R), a newcomer to politics, but an attorney and real estate developer who would be a supporter for housing providers.

Getting back to the Position 2 campaigns, you have former Spokane County Treasurer and District 4 Representative Rob Chase (R) who held the seat from 2020-2022 before the aforementioned Representative Leonard Christian. Another couple of names to watch here are Michael Schmidt and former Spokane Valley Councilmember Brandi Peetz. For a very in-depth read about this crowded race in more detail, the Spokesman-Review has a great article that was published on July 3rd.

___________

DISTRICT 14

Last month we discussed in some detail the redistricting that heavily impacted Central Washington districts 13, 14, and 15. Some legislators were redistricted OUT and others were redistricted IN. A few legislators had to make decisions about whether to move into their new district boundaries, to continue living in what used to be their district, run against a sitting legislator, OR choose not to campaign for reelection.

So hopefully I can clear up some confusion. The 14th was drawn so that NO sitting legislators lived within its new boundaries so a clean slate. The current District 14 Senator Curtis King (R) moved eight whole blocks to continue living in the 14th so he will be campaigning to maintain his senate seat, but both representative seats are wide open as current 14th District Representative Gina Mosbruker (R) has decided not to relocate to stay in her district, and Representative Chris Corry (R), made the decision to not uproot his family and children, will instead be running for a representative seat in the newly created 15th District which he is now a resident.

Some candidates to watch for these seats are Gloria Mendoza (R) for Position 1 and Deb Manjarrez (R) for Position 2. Mendoza is the former Mayor of Grandview and a small business owner. Manjarrez was President of the Wapato Chamber of Commerce for ten years and is a staunch property rights advocate. A direct quote from her press release announcing her candidacy reads, “My background in finance and my commitment to protecting property rights have prepared me to be a strong advocate for my friends and neighbors."

___________

DISTRICT 15

This NEW District 15 doesn’t have any legislators since it is a newly created district. With that in mind, Chris Corry (R), as I mentioned is a current 14th District Representative, is running together with former Representative Jeremie Dufault (R). Dufault made the decision to run after he was re-districted back into the 15th. Dufault is a veteran and real estate developer and during his previous terms helped block property tax increase proposals and attempts at a state income tax. Corry has been a big friend for the rental housing industry and gave very passionate testimony on the house floor against HB 2114 the rent control bill.

___________

DISTRICT 26

This is an extremely important swing district as most recent races have been decided by less than one percent. Current representative Spencer Hutchins (R) is not seeking reelection and looking to fill his seat is Jim Henderson (R). If you have been around RHAWA for a time, you will of course know Jim. He was RHAWA’s lobbyist for a time and has done lobby work for a variety of other housing organizations and is a housing provider himself. Jim knows our issues inside and out and will be a tremendously valuable ally in Olympia. He is running for the soon-to-be vacated seat and is doing so with the full support of the district’s other representative, Michele Caldier (R). This is an extremely important swing district as this could dictate whether Democrats in Olympia achieve a supermajority in the House of Representatives.

___________

DISTRICT 27

This district encompasses almost all of Tacoma as well as Ruston and Browns Point and is currently a more well-known district as the Speaker of the House, Laurie Jinkins, holds the Position 1 seat and will be running for re-election. The Position 2 Representative is Jake Fey who has held his seat since 2013. Both seats are seen as very safe in progressive Tacoma.

Representative Fey has been an ally of housing providers throughout his time in office although it must be noted he did vote in favor of the rent control bill on the house floor this year. The concerning wrinkle with his campaign is his opponent, Devin Kelly. If you don’t know that name, he was one of the main organizers behind Tacoma Measure 1 which was passed into law in Tacoma by a mere 362 votes this last November. Tacoma now has the most restrictive rental housing policy in the state and Devin is campaigning on taking those policies with him to the state level. Representative Fey is a moderate Democratic who has worked with RHAWA in the past and we hope to see him retain his position.

___________

DISTRICT 43

The very long-standing Representative and former Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (D) has announced that he will be retiring and not seeking re-election. Given that this district is entirely located in Seattle it's safe to say the Democrats will retain this seat. The question is who will step into Chopp’s seat?

There is one candidate that small rental housing providers should be concerned about, Shaun Scott. Scott is a staunch “tenant protections” advocate and amongst his many platform promises the most concerning to our industry is the vow to enact rent control at the state level. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Policy Lead at the Statewide Poverty Action Network. He also has experience working as a campaign staffer for Senator Bernie Sanders' most recent run at the white house. He will be anything but an ally to small rental housing providers in our state.

The other side of the coin from Scott is Andrea Suarez who has an extensive history with homelessness and housing in Seattle and is the founder of We Heart Seattle, an organization that leads trash clean-up of public spaces and offers assistance to those experiencing homelessness in Seattle. They are a highly respected local organization. Suarez wants to work on rental housing in our state and has indicated she would be an ally of rental housing providers with no mention of rent control in her issue items.

The other Representative position is held by Nicole Macri and she will be campaigning for re-election unopposed.

This is certainly not an all-inclusive list of all the house races to be watching as each district is important. I simply wanted to highlight some of the more headline party and seat changes that could come to pass in November. For more information about candidates RHAWA supports and endorses keep an eye out for our voter's guide shortly after the primary election results.