This fall, incumbent Jay Rodne (R-Snoqualmie) will face off against challenger Jason Ritchie (D-Issaquah) for the 5th District Washington state House of Representatives Position 1 seat.
Rodne, 50, has served his community through a variety of organizations since moving here in 1993, including the Snoqualmie Valley Rotary, Issaquah, Sammamish and Snoqualmie Valley Chambers of Commerce, and the American Legion, to name a few. The Gonzaga Law grad doubles as a lawyer and colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, and has fought in the Middle East, most recently during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003).
With 12 years of experience in the House, Rodne said that the biggest problems facing Washington are transportation and education funding.
“Mobility is critical … to the health of our economy,” he said.
He believes that an increase in general purpose lanes and improvements to infrastructure — especially the Interstate 90 and State Route 900 interchange — would do far more to decrease congestion than Sound Transit 3, this November’s light rail measure.
“There is not enough money to do ST3 and [fulfill] the McCleary decision,” Rodne said, referring to the state’s court-mandated obligation to fully fund education. Adjusting the budget to provide more funding for schools is his top goal.
“I am proud we were able to increase K-12 education funding by $1.3 billion last biennium without a tax increase,” he said.
Rodne named his sponsorship of the Zackery Lysted Law, the country’s first concussion protocol law in 2009, as well as his co-sponsorship of the 2015 Joel’s Law for mental health reforms as his greatest achievements in the House.
“I’m running on 12 years of demonstrated bipartisan effectiveness,” Rodne said.
He stated that he “reflects the district,” noting that his children have grown up and attended public schools here, he has served as a PTSA member at Twin Falls Middle School and he has worked to support local private sector job growth during his time in the Legislature.
Ritchie, 45, is a Working Families-backed Democrat advocating for the “kitchen table issues” that concern working-class citizens. His philosophy is “progress over partisanship.” The former community college instructor, who holds an M.A. in history from the University of Michigan, owns Handi Habitats, a small business that makes homes accessible for people with physical challenges, and also teaches history part-time at Dartmoor School in Issaquah.
Like his opponent, Ritchie’s top goal if elected is to fulfill the McCleary obligation by finding alternate sources of revenue for education. Though he is open to exploring all options, there is one point on which he is firm: he vows to never vote to increase the tax burden of the middle class.
Though he wants to bring light rail to the Eastside, Ritchie does not support ST3 due to its 35-year timeline.
“35 years is comical,” he said. “I want to see building happening right now … Transportation supports jobs, jobs support housing prices and housing prices support retirement.”
Affordable housing is another issue on Ritchie’s radar. He suggests building more of a variety of types of residences, such as duplexes and apartment buildings that accomodate multiple families, rather than just large, single-family homes.
“I’m the best person for the job because I’m a small business owner, teacher and parent,” Ritchie said, emphasizing that he represents “working families striving for nonpartisan issues.”
He promises to meet with his constituents regularly at local coffee shops in order to hear their input. Ritchie said that none of the other 5th District candidates open themselves up to residents in this manner.
“I’ll sit there and answer questions, explain why I voted the way I did. I want to make myself available. I would go out of my way [to do so].”
