Puyallup-area voters elect a new, yet familiar face to state Senate seat
State Rep. Chris Gildon appears headed to victory over candidate Julie Door in the race for state Senate in the 25th Legislative District.
Nov. 5 results from the general election showed a 5,870-vote lead by Gildon. Gildon, a Republican, had votes 40,217 (53.86 percent) and Door, a Democrat, had 34,347 (46 percent).
The 25th Legislative District, which represents Puyallup, South Hill, Midland, Fife and part of Parkland, had a 80 percent voter turnout as of Thursday night’s results, An estimated 5,000 in-house ballots were left to process Nov. 6, according to the Pierce County Auditor’s Office, with some by-mail still trickling in.
Gildon and Door are vying for the seat after Republican Sen. Hans Zeiger announced his intention to run for Pierce County Council.
Republicans have been elected to the seat since 2012.
Reached by phone Nov. 5, Gildon thanked voters and fellow 25th Legislative District team, Cyndy Jacobsen and Kelly Chambers, who also were holding leads for state representative.
Gildon said Door ran a “tough” campaign and that he was looking forward to working with her as mayor of Puyallup, and across both aisles in the Senate.
“Its time for us to come together,” Gildon said. “It’s time for us to unite.”
Gildon said that one of the biggest issues to tackle in the next legislative session is the budget, which has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Door congratulated Gildon on Facebook on Nov. 4.
“Now is a time for healing and unity,” Door wrote. “Our cities, towns, states and country cannot thrive with the current divide. We need to listen more than we speak; seek to find common ground with people who think differently than we do and be open to new ideas.”
Gildon is currently a state representative for the 25th Legislative District and was elected in 2018.
Gildon spent 23 years as an Army engineer officer with five overseas deployments and a dozen years at nearby JBLM. He currently works in commercial real estate.
On his campaign website, Gildon said he’s working for “treatment for addiction, more housing opportunities, affordable college, and lower costs for prescription drugs.” During his time as state representative, Gildon put forth a bill to curtail price gouging on prescription drugs.
Door became mayor of Puyallup in January after more than six years on City Council. She also owns Willows Chiropractic Clinic & Therapeutic Massage in Puyallup.
Door ran her campaign on the issues of boosting the local economy and supporting small businesses, better pay for teachers and equity in classrooms, and support for first responders.
The race drew attention earlier this year after money poured in from political committees in ads, some of which included claims that Door voted to increase taxes that she had not. A complaint was filed with the Public Disclosure Commission, alleging the mailers violated state law, which prohibits political advertising that “contains a false statement of material fact about a candidate for public office.”
The PDC ruled at the end of October that while the ads may have contained inaccurate information, they don’t show “actual malice” and evidence of violations.
