State 32nd District Representative candidates for Position 1 Noble and Scully

The reporter covered the entire forum with the two candidates for Position 1 House of Representatives. It is too long for the constraints of our publications. Therefore, this article contains only the opening and closing remarks from each candidate. Please read her complete report on this race here: candidates Noble, Scully meet -Editor

Innis Arden candidate forum was the only in-person event
Photo by Jamie Holter in MyMLTNews.com

By Jamie Holter

MyMLTNews.com

Six candidates running to represent three separate offices for Washington state’s 32nd Legislative District came together Sunday afternoon in Shoreline to share their priorities and positions. More than 100 people showed up and remained for the entire two hours of discussion and debate.

Moderated by the League of Women Voters, the 30-minute discussion was an opportunity to meet the candidates Danica Noble and Keith Scully, who want to fill the Position 1 House of Representatives seat vacated by Rep. Cindy Ryu.

Ryu is running to unseat current State Sen. Jesse Salomon. (Our summary of that exchange is here.)

Noble and Scully said there was little daylight between them on issues. They are both liberal Democrats and support the millionaires tax. But they have different backgrounds and said they will bring that unique experience to Olympia.

Presented here is the second of three articles summarizing candidate questions and answers.

32nd Legislative State Rep. Position 1: Danica Noble and Keith Scully

Opening remarks

Keith Scully
Photo by Claudia Meadows

Keith Scully: I’m delighted to be here today with my wife. She was on the Shoreline School Board. Our twins, Thomas and Eddie, went through Syre and are now Einstein eighth graders. I’ve been in this community for a long time.

Fifteen years ago, I volunteered for the City of Shoreline Planning Commission. Five years after that, I ran for City Council. I’ve been on City Council for 10 years, including terms as mayor. I think every politician needs to get out and doorbell. I’m at 14,000 doors. My priorities are formed by talking to the people in the district, everywhere from north Lynnwood all the way down to 125th [Street] in Seattle and figuring out what’s important to them, and then combining that with my 10 years of City Council experience to come up with priorities.

First priority is affordability, and that’s partly taxes. The state budget has gone up every year for the last 10 years. We’ve got to rein that in. We need to completely reform the tax code. I want to see progressive taxes, so we stop taxing people out of their homes with regressive property and sales taxes.

Finally, the environment. That’s why I got into politics in the first place. Hope we get a question later about energy because I could talk about that forever.

And also, K-12 education. Two kids in middle school. My older daughter teaches middle school. My wife was on the School Board. These are issues I know very very well, and I’m fully prepared to control.

Danica Noble
Photo by Claudia Meadows

Danica Noble: This is my first time running for office, and it wasn’t that I always dreamed of being a politician. This moment called for me to be able to be willing to do the work that I think needs to be done, and that comes from my personal and professional background.

I have three kids in public schools: elementary, middle and high school. I serve as an advocacy director for their PTAs and on the state PTA advocacy board, and have been doing that for years. Our schools are in crisis. Our students have mental health and academic crises that they’re facing. That’s something that I want to work on.

Professionally, I spent the last 20 years at the Federal Trade Commission doing anti-monopoly and consumer protection work, suing grocery stores that were merging, hospitals that were merging, and most recently big tech.

I spent the last four years suing Facebook. Part of the crises that our children are facing because of what they’re facing online. As a mom, my job is to protect them from dangers I didn’t know [existed], and it’s difficult. And our urgency to act is now.

So my priorities are to bring guardrails to tech in this state. They are absolutely missing. Fully fund education, and then finally bring some much-needed experience in consumer protection to this state.

Closing statement

Danica Noble: I am so glad you’ve been here, and many of you for the entire time to hear all the candidates. That’s an incredible way to be civically engaged. I think that’s been my favorite part of running. As Keith mentioned, we both knocked on a lot of doors. I have come away from that so optimistic. People want to save democracy. They want to be involved. People are voting for the first time. It’s really exciting, and so it’s great to see you guys here.

I think that either Keith or I would be great legislators in Olympia, but I think that we bring differences, and what I bring are some pieces that are missing across the board in Olympia. That is four years on a Federal AI task force, looking at these companies, looking at the data centers. That background is needed and important. I have been 10 years as the consumer protection chair of the Washington State Bar Association for Antitrust Consumer Protection Unfair Business Practices.

We’ve talked a lot about unfair business practices. The Consumer Protection Committee is missing folks with law enforcement in that position. So that’s something that I would really love to work on and bring to Olympia. And I would love to bring all of you and your perspectives. So I invite you now and in the future to be in touch, and I mean that very sincerely. Thank you so much for coming today, and can’t wait to get to work and circulate.

Keith Scully: It’s just a really momentous election, and that there was a lot going wrong. I agree, but I also have hope. Some people hand my stuff back and say I won’t talk to you because of your [political] party. But that’s very few. Most people want to talk. Most people want to work out solutions. Most people have the welfare of the state as their primary goal, and they want a government that works.

That’s what I want to deliver. I think that’s what I have delivered on the Shoreline City Council. I’m prepared to continue delivering. This is an important race because Dania is somebody I’ve supported. But we do offer different things, and what I offer, I think, is is the track record and the focus on keeping government working well as a first step, including fixing our tax code, and then looking at the problems we need to fix, rather than running stuff off the cliff with great intentions, but nonetheless without a watch on how we’re getting there and whether we can sustain it.

The entire report can be read here.