She’s worked in the international world of corporate technology and a mom-and-pop manufacturing business; run for the U.S. House of Representatives; served on the board of a U.S. foreign policy research think tank; and is now running for the Washington Legislature, Position 2. Events have definitely shaped Darcy Burner’s career, but none so much as becoming a parent.

“In 2003, my career trajectory changed” the Ames Lake woman said, with the birth of her son, Henry.

She was overjoyed, of course, but also overwhelmed, with questions.

“What was I thinking?'” she said. “How do I give this child the kind of life I want him to have?”

So she “did what any normal person would do, I quit my job and ran for Congress,” she said.

She opposed Rep. Dave Reichert for his 8th District seat in 2006 and again in 2008. She tried for Congress again in 2012, running for an open seat in the 1st District but her race ended with a third-place finish in the state primary election.

She went to Washington D.C., to work on policy issues, she said— she is a board member for the Center for International Policy — and returned to Carnation in 2011 when her home, lost in a fire, was rebuilt.

In 2014, her career trajectory changed again.

Through her son’s class project, she became involved in a small manufacturing business, Buttonsmith in downtown Carnation. The company grew from a mother-and-son process to a small business with nine employees, currently selling buttons, magnets and T-shirts on Amazon and negotiating a contract with Wal-Mart.

“It’s actually a lot of fun,” Burner said of her CEO role. “There’s something really satisfying about managing a successful American manufacturing company at a time when those are pretty rare.”

Burner’s other major role, a parent with a 13 year-old and 11-year-old stepson in the public school system, hasn’t been as much fun.

State funding for education remains inadequate, and “As a parent, that’s incredibly frustrating to watch,” she said.

Her decision to run for state legislature, at the encouragement of a group of politically engaged community members last January, was still difficult.

“Henry referred to me for quite a while as a recovering politician,” she said. “I was quite happy doing other things.”

She agreed to run because “We have to have people in the state legislature who understand why it’s important that we fund our schools… but also the day-to-day concerns of running a small business.”

After education, Burner said tax reform is a priority for her.

“I think the question about how the state does taxes and who pays what is closely tied in with education,” she said. “How do we raise revenue in way that is actually, at the very least, fair… and ideally in my perspective, a bit more progressive.”

The state needs a system that pays for roads, mental health care and environmental issues, without the current imbalances. “We need a system so that we don’t have the poor and middle class subsidizing the wealthy, which is true right now; we don’t have small and mid-size businesses subsidizing the larger businesses in the state, which is true right now.”

Burner also envisions a simplified process for cities to sell municipal bonds for infrastructure projects, especially geothermal work.

Also, she said, “We should make Washington the first carbon-neutral state in the country and show the rest of the world how it’s done.”

Burner has been endorsed by State Senator Maralyn Chase (32nd District), State Rep Tina Orwall (33rd), and several former Representatives and city officials.

Learn more about Burner at www.darcyburner.net.