Tag: Olympia

The Stranger Endorses Rep. Cindy Ryu

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The Stranger’s Endorsements for the August 4, 2020, Primary Election

“We ended our meeting with Cindy Ryu wishing we could go to a Thanksgiving dinner with her. She’s frank in a way that other legislators are not.

Ryu is down with progressive taxes, but she can’t commit (though we wish she would) to standing on a table and championing any of them—“I have acrophobia,” she joked, “I’ll fall off.” Nah, but really, she says she supports a capital gains tax, but argues that it won’t help in the short-term, so lawmakers will have to fill the gaping budget hole with regressive taxes and fees for the time being. We didn’t love to hear it, but we appreciated the candor.

In better news, Ryu’s record on police reform is solid. She fought for I-940, she was part of the leadership on establishing a joint legislative task force on community policing standards, and we’re confident she’s got more stuff up her sleeves the cops will not like very much!

Ryu is also decent on housing—she’s up for density and for tackling single-family zoning, she’s on board with just cause protections for renters (but not quite rent control, she is a commercial landlord, after all), and she wants to fight for home-grown pot.

Her opponent, Keith Smith, has run against Ryu three times—once as an independent, once as a centrist, and now, it seems, as a progressive. Apart from his rapid, um, evolution as a political thinker, he’s so used to running against Ryu that he felt comfortable wearing an Aeropostale t-shirt to the SECB meeting. We don’t know which sin is worse. Vote Ryu.”

https://www.thestranger.com/news/2020/07/17/44101127/the-strangers-endorsements-for-the-august-4-2020-primary-election#Ryu

Seattle Times Editorial Board endorsement

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I am grateful to have the Seattle Times Editorial Board endorsement.  “As a former mayor of Shoreline and former president of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, she has a clear understanding of how legislative levers can affect constituents in the 32nd and elsewhere.” “Ryu, who will have no learning curve when time is of the essence, is the best candidate to represent the 32nd District in Olympia.”

Your ballots arrive this weekend; please vote early and be counted. 

By The Seattle Times editorial board

State Rep. Cindy Ryu’s experience in the Legislature and as a business owner make her the best candidate to go to Olympia to help tackle the budget deficit and service demands created by the pandemic. She is running for her sixth term.

The Shoreline Democrat chairs the Housing, Community Development & Veterans Committee and is a member of two other committees key to the Legislature’s pandemic response: Appropriations and Consumer Protection & Business.

As a former mayor of Shoreline and former president of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, she has a clear understanding of how legislative levers can affect constituents in the 32nd and elsewhere. As lawmakers grapple with the state’s estimated $8.8 billion budget shortfall through 2023, Ryu says she leans toward using a combination of budget cuts and new taxes.

Two fellow Democrats are challenging her in the Aug. 4 primary. Shirley Sutton is a former Lynnwood City council member and Edmonds Community College administrator, and Keith Smith is a perennial candidate with a long list of community service.

While both challengers agree with Ryu on a number of issues, including the need for new taxes that affect higher wage earners, the need for criminal justice reform and climate action, they do not match Ryu’s experience.

Ryu, who will have no learning curve when time is of the essence, is the best candidate to represent the 32nd District in Olympia.

The Seattle Times editorial board members are editorial page editor Kate Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Brier Dudley, Jennifer Hemmingsen, Mark Higgins, Derrick Nunnally and William K. Blethen (emeritus).