Campaign Phone Number
5096193183
Biography (max 750 char)
My name is Gabe Galbraith. I am a lifelong resident of Washington's 8th Legislative District, a Marine Corps veteran, husband, father, small business owner, and President of the Kennewick School Board. Born in Richland and raised in Kennewick, I have spent more than 35 years living, working, and raising my family in LD8. I currently work at Hanford and own a local family business. I believe in service, fiscal responsibility, strong families, safe communities, and protecting our constitutional freedoms. As a constitutional conservative and Republican, I am running for State Senate to ensure our community values have a strong voice in Olympia and to leave a better future for the next generation.
As a school board president, I've had to make difficult budget decisions and understand the importance of living within our means. My priorities would be public safety, education, infrastructure, and protecting our most vulnerable citizens. I don't believe Washington has a revenue problem; I believe we have a spending and prioritization problem. Before asking taxpayers for more money, we should review programs, eliminate waste and duplication, and focus on core services. Families have to make tough financial decisions every day, and state government should do the same.
Confidence in our elections matters, regardless of political party. Every voter should know their vote counts and that the process is fair, secure, and transparent. I support regularly maintaining voter rolls, strong chain-of-custody procedures for ballots, bipartisan observation of election processes, and making election information and records more accessible to the public. I also believe Washington should continue investing in cybersecurity and provide clear explanations of processes such as signature verification, ballot curing, and post-election audits. Finally, we need stronger civics education so citizens understand how our election system works. Trust grows when government is transparent, accountable, and willing to answer questions openly.
Public safety starts with supporting the men and women who protect our communities. We need to recruit and retain law enforcement officers, provide quality training, and ensure there are real consequences for violent and repeat offenders. We should also invest in mental health and addiction treatment and strengthen partnerships between schools, families, and law enforcement. As a school board president, I've seen firsthand that safe communities and safe schools go hand in hand. People deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods, at work, and in their schools.
A free and independent press is essential to our democracy. Local journalism helps keep citizens informed and holds government accountable. I don't believe government should control or influence news through subsidies that could compromise independence. Instead, the state's role should be promoting transparency, protecting public access to records, and ensuring citizens can easily obtain information about their government. The best way to support informed communities is to have open government and a free press that can operate independently.
People deserve confidence that district boundaries are drawn fairly and transparently. I would support increasing public participation, requiring all proposed maps and underlying data to be posted online in real time, and strengthening standards that prioritize keeping communities of interest together. Communities like the Tri-Cities often share economic interests in agriculture, energy, and manufacturing and should not be divided for political purposes. I also support requiring more bipartisan agreement on final maps and greater transparency around commissioner communications and decision-making. Redistricting should be about fair representation, not protecting incumbents or giving either party an advantage. Voters should choose their representatives—not the other way around.
The greatest challenge facing the 8th District is affordability, driven by rising fuel, housing, and energy costs and compounded by rapid growth in our region. I've heard from families struggling to buy their first home, seniors living on fixed incomes, farmers dealing with increasing costs, and small business owners trying to keep up with regulations and inflation. State government should focus on lowering the cost of living by reducing unnecessary regulations and taxes, supporting affordable and reliable energy, protecting agriculture and Hanford jobs, expanding housing opportunities, and investing in infrastructure that keeps pace with our growth. The role of government is not to create more barriers but to create an environment where families can afford to live, work, and thrive.
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