Campaign Phone Number
2532176914
Biography (max 750 char)
I was born and raised in Kent going from elementary to high school. Growing up I played baseball and would golf on the weekends with my dad. After graduating, I started working at Costco with every intention of going to college, but I could never figure out what career path I would take. Being fiscally conservative, I did not want to spend money without a justification. Costco taught me how to work with the public, and be a team player. After 11 years, I left to open a ninja warrior gym for kids and have been doing that since. Owning a business has taught me responsibility, time management, creativity, and decisive decision making.
The top budget issue we have is spending on the unhoused. Most of what we spend is going towards programs to help, or relocating. With over 100 million dollars allocated to this issue with what I believe is little to show in ROI. The issue is three fold, rent prices soaring, wages not keeping up with inflation, and mental health issues. For the first two, rent control and a cap on rent increases would help struggling families. Raising the Minimum wage to 25$ per hour. Many would resist this, but more money in peoples pockets will result in more spending and higher revenue. The last issue is where investment would need to be made. More rehab and mental health facilities need to be built and run. Drug, alcohol and mental health issue need therapy, not jail.
To help with participation, mailing out the pamphlet earlier would allow people to do more research on the candidates and the topics they are going to be voting on. To help strengthen confidence, we need to limit how much money and who can donate money to a campaign. With citizen united, dark money has been flooding into politics. We need to ensure everyone running for office is running to help the public, not taking money from pacs, and is very transparent on not having any conflicts swaying votes.
To start, we need to place more restrictions on ammo and guns. The government has placed a limit to how much sudafed one can buy, but ammo is not regulated. If you could track the purchases of ammo, we can see who is making a stock pile. With guns, we need to strengthen red flag laws, extend the waiting period, limit the amount one person can own, limit the clip capacity, require registration, and require storage. Also placing an emphasis of parents being held legally responsible for actions kids take with guns they purchase.
We also need to focus on mental health. Sending social workers not cops to deal with 911 calls related to mental destress. Opening more facilities to address the growing issues of addiction. Addiction to drugs and alcohol make people more likely to commit crimes.
State run media is just as bad as Conglomerate run media. The only thing the state should be doing is helping independent media stay afloat without being sold out to big corporations. This can be done by tax breaks for rent, incentives for hiring, and protection when stories are not flattering.
I would support eliminating all republican held districts in the upcoming election cycle. With the current administration putting a hand on the scale, every seat flipped blue will help eliminate a vote that has helped this corrupt president wield unprecedented power. After Trump is out of power, a nation wide redistrict need to happen to eliminate all gerrymandered districts.
The biggest issues I see in district 29 are drug use, homelessness, and roads that are need of repair. How would the state help in these issues? With the issue of drug usage, not allowing open air selling to happen. With the current laws, cops are not able to step in while drug deals go down. I see drug deals almost weekly heading to work. As far as homelessness, addressing the root cause would help. Rent stabilization, higher wages, and more access to essential care(laundry, showers, hair cuts, phone numbers, email addresses) These will help those without addresses apply for jobs and have the proper contact info.
For fixing the roads, more man power addressing pot holes and less red tape.
Campaign Phone Number
3609546134
Biography (max 750 char)
Sharlett Mena was born and raised in Washington, and is the proud daughter of immigrants who came to the United States as farm workers. A product of public schools in the Tri-Cities, Sharlett saw firsthand the value of programs that helped first-generation students like her pursue higher education as well as the disparities in access that can shape a young person’s education. She became the first member of her family to graduate college, earning a Bachelor of Arts from Washington State University. In her first legislative session, six of Sharlett’s twelve introduced bills passed the Legislature and were signed into law, earning her praise as a “power player who knows how to get things done”.
The biggest threat to economic stability for working families is the rising cost of all the necessities of life – from basic goods like food and medicine, to the energy needed to get to work in the morning and power our homes, to the payments on those homes and apartments. These costs increased as wages failed to keep pace with inflation and our tax system asked so much more of working families than it did of the wealthiest in our state – and the impacts fell disproportionately on districts like mine.
We have made important progress, especially with the passage of the Millionaire’s Tax, which will provide badly needed resources to help the state consistently and responsibly fund essential services. It will also allow for lower B&O tax rates on small businesses.
Voting is the most powerful tool for building a government that reflects our values and meets our needs. Your vote is powerful, and that is exactly why corporations and special interests are doing everything they can to make it harder for you to vote and to diminish what your vote can accomplish. In response to this, I have been working since before I even joined the Legislature to register voters in the 29th district, to protect the right to vote, and to expand ballot access. Until every eligible voter has equal access to the ballot, we can not truly have a representative democracy.
This conviction is what drove me to run for Chair of the State Government Committee, which oversees elections policy. I will never stop working to strengthen our elections.
Public safety is about many things — including having accountability and trust in our institutions. Today, our community needs protection not only from crime, but from federal immigration officials who bring violence, fear, and unlawful actions to our neighborhoods. I have fought to ensure that safe, professional operations by law enforcement are the standard in our state; however, the conduct of ICE here and in cities across America endangers the safety of everyone, no matter their immigration status. I will never stop working to ensure that everyone in the 29th District is safe in public, and that includes taking strong action against vicious federal overreaches meant to tear our community apart.
The State Legislature can and should do more to support local journalism as the industry continues to struggle. I was proud to be the first cosponsor of HB 1836, which would support local journalism by creating a grant program to help local news organizations hire and retain reporters covering civic affairs, particularly in underserved communities. The program would be funded through a tax on the largest social media platforms and search engines, recognizing that strong local journalism is essential to a healthy democracy.
Washington has not yet adopted some of the strongest policies used elsewhere, such as tax credits for local newsrooms, permanent funding for local journalism, or requirements that Big Tech compensate news publishers. I look forward to engaging this issue in the Senate.
Before joining the Legislature, I participated in redistricting as a private citizen, advocating for legislative district maps that keep communities of interest together. However, this could be at risk in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais. It is more important than ever that Washington continues to lead in protecting voting rights and establish greater transparency and accountability in redistricting. I support a robust public process that gives communities meaningful opportunities to shape the maps that will define their representation for the next decade. We must also ensure that communities of interest are kept together whenever possible so that neighborhoods with shared histories, cultures, and concerns have a meaningful voice in government.
Families in the 29th District are working multiple jobs and still struggling to make rent, afford food, and pay for health care. This isn’t a world I’m willing to accept, and working families shouldn’t have to either. I’m proud of sponsoring and passing HB 1903 into law this year to create the first statewide low-income utility bill assistance program, and we need to seek additional near-term policy solutions to make everyday life simpler for Washingtonians.
Our state must also fight back as the federal government unjustly raises the cost of groceries and medications for low-income families. Washington State deserves leaders with the vision, skill, and determination to successfully pass legislation and get the job done. This is the perspective I will take to the Senate.
