We put a call out to our community and asked what questions you had for these candidates. Questionnaires were sent out July 19 with responses expected by July 23. Candidates were either contacted by email, tagged via social media, called, or contacted using multiple methods whenever information was available. We also offered to extend the deadline or troubleshoot any problems if they had an interest in completing the questionnaire.
Candidates who elected not to respond:
Perry Dozier
Danielle Garbe Reser
William “Bill” Jenkin
What are the top 5 issues which you think are facing this position? How do you differ from others running on these issues?
Harry Truman coined the phrase “not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” What’s something you’re reading right now?
Do you support Black Lives Matter? (yes/no)
What does defunding the police mean to you?
Which factors do you believe contribute the most to police violence?
Black and Latinx community members are twice as likely to die from the coronavirus as White community members. What are your thoughts on the reasons for this? And what would you propose to do at a policy level to address the disparity?
Should we reopen indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, and movie theaters before our case numbers go down, we’ve flattened the curve and built up our testing/tracing capacity to CDC-recommended levels?
What are your thoughts on pushing forward legislation to move our state/district/county/city to Ranked Choice Voting?
Do you support mail-in balloting? And do you think there is any reason to believe that mail-in ballot fraud is an issue?
What metrics should be met before schools reopen? And what precautions should be taken once they’re open to limit COVID-19 spread?
The pandemic has hammered our economy, erasing summer jobs for college students who rely on those funds for their upcoming school year. What could the legislature do to stem rising tuition this next year?
How do you plan to assist the hundreds of small businesses that have shuttered due to the pandemic?
It’s estimated that the state is facing a budget shortfall to the tune of $8.8 billion. What do you think the legislature can do to ensure programs, education and other state services stay funded?
Recently, studies by WSDOT and other independent bodies have researched the feasibility of resuming a state-wide east-west corridor passenger rail system—the so-called “Stampede Pass” route—as a part of the 2019 State Rail Plan. Do you foresee hurdles in enacting this plan? And if so, what will you do to reduce their impact?