One of these three finalists will fill Washington state Senate vacancy representing Tacoma
Three candidates have been chosen as finalists to fill a vacancy in the Washington state Senate, representing the north Tacoma area.
Democratic state Sen. Jeannie Darneille announced in September she would be resigning her seat in the 27th Legislative District to take a new assistant secretary position for the Women’s Prison Division in the state Department of Corrections. Darneille was first elected to the Legislature in 2000 as a representative, and elected to the Senate in 2012.
The district’s Democratic precinct committee officers voted on Saturday to select Yasmin Trudeau, Desiree Wilkins Finch and LaMont Green as the three finalists.
The Pierce County Council will make the final selection from the three. That vote is expected in the coming weeks, after Darneille’s resignation becomes official.
Seven people were nominated: Priya Saxena, Desiree Wilkins Finch, LaMont Green, Tafona Ervin, Yasim Trudeau and Anders Ibsen. Ibsen, a former Tacoma City Council member and local real estate broker, turned down the nomination.
The remaining six nominees spoke at a meeting Saturday to explain why they wanted to take on the position, and the top three were selected by more than 40 PCO votes.
Yasmin Trudeau is legislative director for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. She was supported by state Sen.. T’wina Nobles (D-Fircrest) during the meeting.
“I commit to always being beholden to the people’s interests first. I will never place profit over people and I will not make decisions that create loyalties to the industry,” Trudeau said during the meeting.
Desiree Wilkins Finch is a community organizer and the owner of consultant agency RISE Leadership with Purpose, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“I’m not a policy analyst. I’m an organizer, a community organizer...I’m a servant leader. I’m a builder of coalitions, I am a connector of people and resources,” Finch said at Saturday’s meeting.
LaMont Green is the director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the policy nonprofit Technical Assistance Collaborative.
“Twenty-five years ago, I was experiencing homelessness, and drug addiction,” Green said at Saturday’s meeting. “And so who would have thought that a formerly homeless crack cocaine addict would be here today. It makes me smile. My heart is full. I could feel my great grandmother’s spirit and my ancestors rejoicing.”
The selections also mean the 27th District Senate seat will be filled for the first time in its history by a person of color. Finch and Green are Black candidates, and Trudeau identifies as Bengali-American. Green is also an open member of the LGBTQ community.
Darnielle said at the meeting that she had a “deep desire” to have her position filled by a person of color.
“We had the bold vision that the three nominees moving forward in the process to the County Council would be people of color, so that our district would be making a statement that there is no question of our values in the 27th district,” Darneille said. “And so I’m very excited about this opportunity. Amazing candidates, all of you. Our future looks great.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2021 at 3:22 PM.
