by Brett Johnson
As the 2024 General Election recedes in the rearview mirror, a new year is now well underway. It’s a time to reflect on events of the past year, but also look toward the future. In other posts, the Coalition has detailed some of our legislative priorities in Olympia that we hope will pass and become law. 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 locally. While there are lots of positives to be enthused about, there are important local offices on the ballot in 2025:
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, another finalist for the appointment, recently joined the race 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 is 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, and Lindsay Wills 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. Two candidates are actively campaigning: 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. We will continue to work with environmentally-minded candidates in these jurisdictions. It continues to be important to “build the bench” of candidates outside of Tacoma!