Education Leaders Lead the Charge in Primary Election
The early results of Tuesday’s primary election are in and show major gains for many of LEV’s endorsed education leaders.
In total, 29 of LEV PAC’s 31 endorsed legislative candidates will move forward to the general election. Of that total, 25 of 31 endorsed candidates showed decisive wins.
As the final ballots are tallied a few of these races may shift, but for the most part we know which candidates will be competing in the general election in November. The road to Olympia is a long one, and we applaud the hard work and long hours these education leaders are putting in to do right by Washington’s kids. Below you’ll find the results for each of our endorsed candidates as of August 9th at 4pm.
State Senate:
Congratulations to the following leaders:
| Bruce Lachney | 2nd LD | 40.75% |
| Andy Billig | 3rd LD | 57.86% |
| Mark Mullet | 5th LD | 52.75% |
| Bruce Dammeier | 25th LD | 62.98% |
| Kevin Ranker | 40th LD | 61.7% |
| Steve Litzow | 41st LD | 57.04% |
| David Frockt | 46th LD | 100% |
In second, and will continue to the general:
| Dawn McCravey | 1st LD | 41.16% |
| Tim Probst | 17th LD | 48.32% |
State House:
Congratulations to the following leaders:
| Chad Magendanz | 5th LD | 52.92% |
| Maureen Walsh | 16th LD | 62.3% |
| Monica Stonier | 17th LD | 45.85% |
| Dawn Morrell | 25th LD | 46.92% |
| Larry Seaquist | 26th LD | 53.62% |
| Laurie Jinkins | 27th LD | 74.23% |
| Cathy Dahlquist | 31st LD | 63.7% |
| Ruth Kagi | 32nd LD | 70.24% |
| Tina Orwall | 33rd LD | 71.3% |
| Reuven Carlyle | 36th LD | 87.5% |
| Eric Pettigrew | 37th LD | 86.1% |
| Kris Lytton | 40th LD | 100% |
| Marcie Maxwell | 41st LD | 57.7% |
| Frank Chopp | 43rd LD | 90.2% |
| Jamie Pedersen | 43rd LD | 91.5% |
| Roger Goodman | 45th LD | 49.2% |
| Pat Sullivan | 47th LD | 59.7% |
| Cyrus Habib | 48th LD | 55.9% |
| Ross Hunter | 48th LD | 68.8% |
In second, and will continue to the general:
| Sylvester Cann | 46th LD | 39.78% |
Too close to call:
| Stephanie Bowman | 11th LD | 22.8% |
Only one of our endorsed candidates did not make it through the primary. LEV looks forward to continuing our work with Tony Moore, an innovative leader for kids and education, on our path towards educational success for all students. We again would like thank the above candidates for their commitment and dedication to Washington’s students and will continue to support them though the general election in November.
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Regarding your email from Friday, August 10th at 3:25 titled: “The Election results are in…”
Your opening sentence of: As we POUR over the results of Tuesday’s primary
is incorrect. It should be PORE — TO READ OR STUDY WITH STEADY ATTENTION.
Can you be more specific? I have yet to hear a candidate say that he or she doesn’t “support education”.
So, when you say you want “educational success for all students”, what exactly does that mean? (After all, who doesn’t want “educational success for all students”?
What specific measures do you support and what specific measures do you oppose? And what is your reasoning in each case? Do you have any proof that a specific policy or law you advocate will actually work?
I look forward to your response and will share it with my friends, neighbors and co-workers, all of whom are sending their kids to public schools and support them VERY strongly!
Jim, thanks for your questions.
The League of Education Voters does not have a litmus test of issues a candidate must support in order to garner our endorsement. As an organization that works on issues ranging from early learning through post-secondary options as well as funding it would be nearly impossible to find a candidate that agreed with LEV’s stance on all issues. Instead we look for candidates who meet a range of other criteria including: a commitment to closing the growing achievement/opportunity gap; legislators with influence, vision and proven ability to get things done; ties to their local educational communities; a dedication to continuing to move the ball forward for education. Candidates complete a questionnaire, participate in an interview, and are voted on by our C4 Board based on the above criteria before they are endorsed.
LEV advocates for an educational system in which every child, regardless of race, income level, or physical location receives an education that adequately prepares them from early learning through post-secondary to be ready for career and life. LEV has an entire policy department which researches and reviews all issues that move forward on our organization’s agenda to measure an issue’s ability to improve the education system for Washington’s students. There are no silver bullets to fix what is broken but we believe with bold steps it can be done. Some of these changes include:
- Raising our standards and expectations for kids, teachers and administrators.
- Making kindergarten the next step, not the first step. Educational opportunities begin at birth.
- Preparing kids so they have the opportunity to go to college.
- Adequately funding our schools even in a recession.
- Accountability to know that the system is working. This includes having a data system and proper evaluation of students, teachers and administrators.
- Providing teachers with the support and resources they need to make their students succeed – and the coaching and mentors they need to be more effective.
For an in depth view of the issues we work on please visit our website and click on the “What do we believe” tab. Education affects us all and LEV works to do what we see as best for the kids in the classroom and we look to work with adults who put kids first as well.
Why isn’t Christine Rolfes included? She is a great advocate for education.
Christine Rolfes is a staunch supporter of PUBLIC education, not charters.