We endorse: Send a teacher and an Army officer to fill two Puyallup area House seats

East Pierce County’s 25th Legislative District is the only local political territory that’s wide open this election season, making the heart of the Puyallup Valley fertile ground for four political upstarts.

Since none of the general election candidates has ever held elected office, our endorsements for two open House seats are based on potential.

All four candidates have it. But we’re casting our lot with Democrat Jamie Smith for Position 1 and Republican Chris Gildon for Position 2. (Both incumbents, Republicans Melanie Stambaugh and Joyce McDonald, did not to seek reelection.)

The Legislature could use a little distributive force, and Smith and Gildon both look like good standard bearers to represent their parties, and their communities, in this suburban swing district that covers Puyallup, Fife, South Hill, Summit, Midland and Parkland.

Smith, 36, a teacher at Puyallup’s Rogers High School, has spent the better part of her career lecturing teens about government and civics. Now she’s ready to practice what she preaches: Pay attention. Get involved. Stay active.

Her connection to students also gives her an acute sensitivity to what ails the 25th District: homelessness, rising housing costs, lack of transportation and the opioid crisis.

Being a teacher has allowed Smith to “see it all.” And after running for the same seat against Stambaugh two years ago, she’s put in the campaign work.

Her opponent, Republican Kelly Chambers, is the 43-year-old owner of a senior home care franchise. She’s cautious about taxes, well versed in business concerns and seems ready to roll up her sleeves. But given the lingering headaches from the Legislature’s new school funding formula, made plain by recent teacher strikes across Washington, the statehouse could benefit from the perspective of Smith, an education wonk.

In the Middle East, Gildon worked on teams that negotiated peace with local insurgents; by comparison, the political wrangling in Olympia might seem like a midway game at the state fair.

We also like that this conservative can talk a little trash. His list of community service projects includes Puyallup River cleanup.

His opponent, Democrat Brian Duthie, served in the military, too, as an enlisted mechanic and firefighter; he’s parlayed that into a civilian public service career as a City of Everett firefighter.

Born and raised in Puyallup, Duthie has the deeper local ties, but Gildon comes out ahead in readiness for the responsibilities of legislative office.

For the record, we’re disappointed that neither Gildon nor Duthie gave consent for our third-party background check. Voters might rightly wonder how both men would handle the transparency obligations of the job.

But any of the four candidates for the two open District 25 House seats could infuse the Legislature with a bit of Puyallup can-do spirit.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 3:30 PM.