As the 2024 General Election recedes in the rearview mirror, and a new year is well underway, it’s again time to look to the future. In other posts, the Coalition has detailed some of our legislative priorities in Olympia that we hope to get passed. In addition, we look forward to collaborating with newly-elected County Executive Ryan Mello and Pierce County Council members to get important things done for our communities and the environment. While there are lots of positives to be enthused about, there are important local offices on the ballot in the upcoming August primary election:

Pierce County Council: After a bit of drama, the council appointed Bryan Yambe to fill the vacant seat left by Marty Campbell when he assumed the office of Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer. Yambe has many years of elected experience as a City of Fife Councilmember, and will be running to retain this seat in a special election for District 5, which includes Northeast Tacoma, Southeast Tacoma, Fife, Summit/Midland, and parts of Parkland and Spanaway. Kimber Starr, one of the other finalists for the appointment, has begun her campaign as a challenger.

Washington State Senate: Congratulations to Emily Randall who was recently sworn in as our new Congresswoman in the 6th District. Her vacated State Senate seat in LD-26 was recently filled by Deb Krishnadasan, who was appointed by a combination of Pierce and Kitsap County officials. Krishnadasan is a former President of the Peninsula School Board, and founded an advocacy organization called Stand Up for Peninsula Schools.

Krishnadasan grew up on a farm in Puyallup, and worked in communications and human resources with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Microsoft. She will work to defend this critical swing seat in a special election this fall, and (hopefully) again in 2026. Longtime GOP Representative Michelle Caldier enters the race as a strong challenger. Other candidates include Laurel Kingsbury and Renee Hernandez Greenfield.

City of Tacoma: Tacoma will elect a new mayor this year, as Victoria Woodards is completing here second and final term. Early filings indicate a 4-way race between current City Councilmember John Hines, former City Councilmember Anders Ibsen, previous mayoral candidate Steve Haverly, and 27th District Democrats Chair Whitney Stevens. This looks to be a competitive primary election in August, after which the top two candidates will face off in November. Four city council seats are also on the ballot this year. Sarah Rumbaugh and Joe Bushnell are both running for second terms, and Zev Cook and Brandon Vollmer are campaigning to challenge Bushnell in District 5. In District 4, Silong Chhun will challenge recent appointee Sandesh Sadalge. For At-Large Position 6, Deputy Mayor Kiara Daniels has decided not to run for reelection. Krista Perez and Latasha Palmer have both secured several endorsements as early frontrunners for this seat. Hunter Henderson has decided not to run for Mayor, and instead will join Perez, Palmer, Lindsay Wills, and Jessica Johnston to compete for the At-Large Position 6 open seat in the August primary election.

Port of Tacoma Commission: Incumbents for Positions 1 and 2, John McCarthy and Dick Marzano, are reportedly running for reelection, and potential challengers have yet to emerge. In the race for Position 4, incumbent Don Meyer has decided to retire, creating a rare open seat. Former Washington State House Minority Leader JT Wilcox is running, and will have ample resources to run a countywide campaign. No one else has announced yet.

Parks Tacoma: Three positions will be on the ballot this year, as the Board is currently in process of appointing new members to fill three vacancies. Rosie Ayala was elected to the Pierce County Council, Aaron Pointer retired after many years of service, and longtime board member Tim Reid passed away in December. The first appointment was given to Alisa Lee, who is now running to retain Position 1. The second appointment was given to Carla Santorno, former Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent. For its third and final appointment, the Board chose Pete Reyes, a supervisor for Comprehensive Life Resources. On this year’s ballot, Positions 1 and 2 will be a full 6-year term while Position 3 will be a short 2-year term before resetting the cycle in 2027. For now, two candidates are actively campaigning as challengers: Malachi Cabera for position 2 and Bronwyn Clarke for position 3.

In addition, there are several races for city council positions in Lakewood, University Place, Puyallup, Sumner, DuPont, and elsewhere. In Lakewood, Chas Ames is running for position 1, Mike Brandstetter will defend his seat in position 2, Philip Lindholm is likely to replace Jason Whalen in position 3, and Patti Belle is running for re-election in position 5. In Steilacoom, Liz Grasher is running for mayor versus longtime GOP politician Dick Muri. In Puyallup, both Dennis King and Jim Kastama are running for reelection, and challengers have yet to emerge. No one has yet stepped forward to replace Julie Door, who is term-limited. We will continue to work with environmentally-minded candidates in these jurisdictions, as it continues to be important to “build the bench” of candidates outside of Tacoma.