On July 23, the first ballots of the election season will show up in mailboxes all around the state. One of the most competitive races in Seattle is the state representative seat in the 36th District, which covers the neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Ballard and Fremont.
Currently, the seat is vacant due to the retirement of Democratic icon Mary Lou Dickerson, who has held the position since 1995. After Dickerson announced she was leaving, seven people joined the race.
After the primary votes are counted on Aug. 7, the race will be whittled down to two. But, until then, the people of the 36th District have a host of candidates to choose from.
The 36th District has been a Democrat stronghold for the better part of the last three decades, but there was a time, before the mid-1980s, in which the district was more evenly split and competitive between Republicans and Democrats.
This time around, five of the seven candidates are Democrats, one is running under the banner of the Progressive Party and one is a Republican.
Brett Phillips
Political affiliation: Democrat
Time spent living in the 36th: His whole life
Former position(s): Sustainability manager at Unico Properties; co-founder of the Seattle 2030 District, a public/ private partnership dedicated to green building and job growth; chaired the alternative transportation committee for the Building Owners and Managers Association; former member of the Downtown Seattle Association’s transportation committee and strategic planning and communications task force; and on the board of the King County Conservation Voters.
Key issue: Green business/ sustainability and job growth
Key endorsements: Washington State Labor Council; AFL-CIO; Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council; King County Young Democrats; the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council; Cascade Bicycle Club; six former Metropolitan King County and Seattle City Council members, which includes his father Larry Phillips, who is currently a King County Council member.
What Phillips has to offer: “It’s time for the next generation to step up and take over, and that is what I bring to the table. I’m not a political operative; instead, I am a coalition builder with deep roots in the community. I know what the district needs, and I know what the community wants, because I’ve lived here my entire life.”
Interesting tidbit: As a youngster, he was a paperboy for Queen Anne and Magnolia News.
Linde Knighton
Political affiliation: Progressive Party
Time spent living in the 36th: 2 1/2 to 3 years
Former positions: Longtime community activist; worked on political campaigns for Deborah Senn, Brita Butler-Wall, Richard Curtis and Young Han; member of the Third Party Coalition; and an active member of Sisters Organize for Survival, a tax-reform and social-justice organization
Key issue: Government reform
Key endorsements: Former Northshore School Board director Gene Hawkridge; Progressive Party co-chair Steve Balfour; Karen Murray, the communications director of the Constitution Party of Washington; and former Jesse Ventura staffer Pam Ellison, as well as other third-party groups and local activist organizations
What Knighton has to offer: “The main difference between me and the other competitors is that I am an activist candidate, not an elected candidate — meaning I want to get after the people in office and hold them accountable to the public. There is no one pulling my strings from behind the curtains. I’m the only candidate in the race who can truly change the way the government can work for the 36th District.”
Interesting tidbit: She has testified at the state Legislature more than 25 times in a two-year span.
Noel Frame
Political affiliation: Democrat
Time spent living in the 36th: 7 years
Former positions: Worked on Gov. Christine Gregoire’s recount campaign in 2004; deputy campaign manager on Approve Referendum 71; current Washington state director for Progressive Majority; and longtime member of Washington Bus, a group dedicated to introducing civics to youths
Key issue: Education
Key endorsements: Gov. Christine Gregoire; four current and former state senators; nine current state representatives; former King County Executive Ron Sims; the Washington Education Association; King County Democrats; and the King County Labor Council
What Frame has to offer: “My concerns about the state of public education is the reason I got into politics in the first place. Right now, I feel like we are in a fork in the road in Washington, and something needs to be done. A good education system creates a good economy, so the state needs to stop butting funding to schools, first and foremost — which means it is time to have a serious conversation about reforming the income-tax structure in the state.”
Interesting tidbit: At age 25, she became the primary caretaker for her cousin Damion because his mother could not care for him. She is now the foster parent for a 13-year-old cousin.
Ryan Gabriel
Political affiliation: Republican
Time spent living in the 36th: about 10 years
Former positions: Secretary of the 36th District Republican Caucus in 2012
Key issue: Balancing the budget
Key endorsements: King County Republicans
What Gabriel has to offer: “I don’t expect to win, as the 36th District is something like 80-percent Democrat. But I think the Republican ideas about fiscal responsibility need to be in the dialogue for the race. I joined the race because no other candidate was addressing these issues.”
Interesting tidbit: During his time as the secretary of the Republican Caucus, he oversaw the seating of 21 Ron Paul supporters, which drew criticism from the Romney-supporting chair of the King County Republicans.
Sahar Fathi
Political affiliation: Democrat
Time spent living in the 36th: 4 to 5 years
Former positions: Member of the New York State Bar; worked for the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; and sits on the boards of ACLU-Washington and the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project. She created the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington, the first legal clinic primarily for people of Middle Eastern descent in the country, and is a former legislative aide for Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien
Key issue: Social justice/civil rights
Key endorsements: State Reps. Bob Hasegawa, Luis Moscoso and Sharon Tomiko Santos; Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata, Bruce Harrell and Mike O’Brien; King County Democrats; King County Young Democrats; and One America Votes
What Fathi has to offer: “I’ve spent much of my life working with and for low-income populations, and I think that brings a different perspective to my campaign. It seems as if many of the other candidates don’t want to talk about how to help low-income people or do not think it is relevant [in the 36th District,] but there are more than 800 people living in their cars in this district, and I think that should be addressed because it is relevant.”
Interesting tidbit: If elected, she would be the first Iranian-American woman to serve as a state legislator. She is the child of immigrant parents who fled Iran during the Iranian revolution in 1979.
Gael Tarleton
Political affiliation: Democrat
Time spent living in the 36th: 18 years
Former positions: Worked as a senior defense intelligence analyst for the Pentagon and specialized in port security issues. She co-founded the University of Washington’s Citizen Roundtable on Politics and Democracy and the Northwest chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS.) She is also president of the Northwest Progressive Institute and a Seattle port commissioner.
Key issue: Job growth and affordable education
Key endorsements: Washington state Sen. Adam Kline; nine former and current state representatives; Seattle City Councilmembers Jean Godden and Richard Conlin; 36th District Democrats’ executive board; Martin Luther King County Democrats; Northwest Marine Trade Association; Seattle-King County Realtors; and National Women’s Political Caucus
What Tarleton has to offer: “This is a great race. I was one of seven children, so being in a crowded field is nothing new to me. This race is really about the future and where we are heading, and I am the only person running that has experience with big budgets and finding solutions to the big problems that lie ahead.”
Interesting tidbit: She was the youngest person ever awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement from the director of Intelligence while working at the Pentagon.
Evan Clifthorne
Political affiliation: Democrat
Time spent living in the 36th: Unknown
Former positions: Legislative aide to Washington state Sen. Paull Shin
Key issue: Tax reform
Key endorsements: Washington state Sen. Kevin Ranker, Rosemary McAuliffe, Steve Hobbs and Paull Shin; the King County Young Democrats; League of Humane Voters; and the Alliance for Humane Legislation
What Clifthorne has to offer: No comment
Interesting tidbit: He once worked as the outreach drector for the Mosaic Foundation in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in developing countries.