28th District races take spotlight

More than in most districts in the state, voters in the 28th District will help decide the shape of the Legislature on Nov. 2.

It’s one of the few districts in which two incumbent Democrats are at serious risk of being unseated.

So voters are greeting candidates at their doorsteps, watching at least three new campaign commercials and, for a few brave souls such as Margie and Warren Nabours of Lakewood, attending candidate forums, such as one Wednesday at University Place City Hall.

Warren Nabours said lawmakers should have avoided new taxes on bottled water, soft drinks and candy and maybe shed more state employees. He hopes Republicans chip away at Democrats’ large majorities.

“I think they have the potential to change the course of the Legislature,” he said of the GOP candidates.

His wife, a self-described independent who leans toward Democrats, isn’t crazy about the taxes either, but said of the lawmakers who have tackled multibillion-dollar budget deficits, “They’ve got a really tough job figuring out where the money’s going to come from.”

The district’s two House members being challenged are both Democrats, but they offer a contrast in strategies for re-election in a moderate district that swings between the two major parties.

Rep. Tami Green, a nurse from Lakewood, has worked her way into leadership as assistant floor leader for the House majority. She has endeared herself to unions and progressive groups, who this week began spending to help her re-election fight against Republican Paul Wagemann, a developer, former Marine and Clover Park School Board member.

Rep. Troy Kelley of Tacoma touts his centrist voting record. He has departed from his party at times, though not often enough for his GOP challenger, attorney and conservative activist Steve O’Ban of Tacoma, who says Kelley voted for unsustainable budgets before the recession hit. Kelley, owner of a document tracking company, voted against this year’s budget and tax legislation, unlike Green.

To a series of questions at the forum, candidates agreed on the need to protect children’s health care and cut red tape for small businesses, and they differed on whether the Legislature should be blamed for the state’s financial straits, with Green saying lawmakers couldn’t have predicted a global financial collapse.

One of the few issues where they parted ways: whether the state should get out of the business of selling spirits.

O’Ban said he supports privatizing state liquor sales, as this year’s Initiative 1100 and Initiative 1105 would do.

Kelley said he hasn’t decided how to vote on the two measures but voted for a study of poor-performing stores that could lead to privatization.

Green opposes both initiatives. “In our state-run liquor stores we have a 97 percent rate of not selling to minors,” she said. “I really worry about what happens when hard liquor is more available.”

Wagemann supports privatization. “We need to make sure when we move it to a privatized area, we keep it safe so children don’t get it,” he said, “but it’s been my experience most children get it from their parents’ locker.”

Wagemann said he plans to vote for I-1100, which would allow stores to buy directly from alcohol manufacturers, and against I-1105, which would keep in place the role of distributors.

Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826
jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics

LEGISLATIVE FORUM TODAY

Business issues are on tap for discussion at a candidate forum for Pierce County legislative races, sponsored by lobbying and trade groups for businesses.

The “jobs issues forum” is 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Great American Casino at 10117 South Tacoma Way in Lakewood.

Candidates from the 2nd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th legislative districts are among those expected to attend.

MORE ONLINE

Learn more about the candidates and where they stand. Check out our online Voter Guide at thenewstribune.com/soundinfo.