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 the general election this fall, and (hopefully) again in 2026. Veteran GOP Representative Michelle Caldier has entered the race as a well-funded and experienced opponent. The Coalition is proud to endorse DEB KRISHNADASAN for State Senate in the 26th Legislative District.

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. For its third and final appointment, the Board chose Pete Reyes. 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. Three candidates are campaigning as challengers in the general election this fall: former Parks Board member Jerry Thorpe for position 1, Malachi Cabera for position 2 and Bronwyn Clarke for position 3. The Coalition is enthused to endorse three strong environmentally-minded candidates for Parks Tacoma Board this year:  ALISA LEE, MALACHI CABERA & BRONWYN CLARKE.

Steilacoom:  In the race for Mayor of Steilacoom, we are proud to endorse LIZ GRASHER. She will face longtime GOP politician Dick Muri. She has worked hard to raise funds and is constantly out in the community making connections and pitching in to make things happen. Liz is also a big supporter of environmental protection. Time for new leadership in Steilacoom.

The following races will take more time to sort out, likely involving interviews:

City of Tacoma: Tacoma will elect a new mayor this year, as Victoria Woodards is completing here second and final term. A 4-way race seems to be emerging between current City Councilmember John Hines, former City Councilmember Anders Ibsen, previous mayoral candidate Steve Haverly, and 27th District Democrats Chair Whitney Stevens. Jesse Carlos and Tony Ginn also filed to run. This looks to be a highly 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. District 2 incumbent Sarah Rumbaugh will face Ben Lackey in the general election, while Zev Cook and Brandon Vollmer are challenging incumbent Joe Bushnell in the District 5 primary election. In District 4, Silong Chhun and Israel McKinney will challenge recent appointee Sandesh Sadalge in the primary. 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. Perez and Palmer join Hunter Henderson, Lindsay Wills, Jessica Johnston, and Todd Briske to compete for this open seat in the August primary.

Port of Tacoma Commission: Incumbents John McCarthy and Dick Marzano are again running for reelection. Randy Wilson and Tim Payne will challenge McCarthy for Position 1 in the August primary, while Morgan Alexander will face Marzano for Position 2 in the general election. 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 has the resources for a countywide campaign. Dan Knox and Cyrus Donato have also entered the race for Position 4 in the August primary.

In addition, there are several races for city council positions in Lakewood, University Place, Puyallup, Sumner, DuPont, and elsewhere. In University Place, Ed Wood, Javier Figueroa, and Denise McCluskey are running unopposed for reelection, while Alecia Cunningham and Byron Pullen will compete for Position 3 in the general election. In Lakewood, Chas Ames, Mark Herr, Alice Fong, and Ellen Talbo are facing off for position 1 in the August primary election, while Mike Brandstetter will defend his seat in position 2 versus Amelia Escobedo in November. Philip Lindholm, Taylor Whitt and Jennifer Lamari will compete in the primary to replace outgoing Mayor Jason Whalen in position 3, but Patti Belle is running unopposed for re-election in position 5. In Puyallup, Dennis King and Jim Kastama are running for reelection. In the fall general election, Jeff Bennett will face Kastama in District 1, and Heather Schiller will challenge King in District 2. Longtime councilmember Julie Door is term-limited, and stepping down in District 3. Mark Crosby, Jeff Watson, and Lindsay Smolko have all filed to compete in the August primary for this open seat. We will continue to work with environmentally-minded candidates in these jurisdictions; it’s important to “build the bench” of candidates outside of Tacoma.