MONROE — A former sheriff and a nurse will be vying for the redrawn Legislative District 12’s open seat in the state House.
In 2023, after a lawsuit from Yakima residents, a U.S. District Court judge ordered redistricting to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
The judge ruled the old districts impaired Latino voters’ participation.
New lines split the district’s population almost equally on each side of the Cascades. Parts of Duvall, Carnation, Fall City and North Bend now fall into the district. East Wenatchee is now in the 5th. The Monroe to Index corridor was and still is in the 12th District.
Republicans have had a stronghold on the district since 1974, but the shift makes the district more purple than red.
Wenatchee Republican Brian Burnett and North Bend Democrat Heather Koellen hope to fill Republican state Rep. Keith Goehner’s seat. Goehner is running for Senate.
Monroe school board director Jennifer Bumpus also filed to run. But on July 1, she withdrew from the race to focus on her family.
Ballots are due Aug. 6.
Brian Burnett
Brian Burnett, 57, spent 12 years as Chelan County sheriff before losing a re-election bid to Mike Morrison in 2022.
Currently, he works part-time for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the private security firm Seattle’s Finest Security and Traffic Control.
If he wins, Burnett said he’d resign from the association. His other job is remote and would allow him flexibility while in session.
Improving public safety, lowering taxes, loosening business regulations and investing in transportation are some of his priorities.
“I’m known to be a protector,” he said.
Burnett highlighted his ties with the law enforcement community. He is the former president of the sheriffs and police chiefs association, chaired the Chelan County Regional Drug Task Force and was a commissioner for the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission.
Burnett hopes to use his real-life experience to craft the state’s public safety policies.
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and other high-profile police killings, legislators restricted when officers could pursue suspects in their patrol cars, for example.
“As those laws were passed, we saw a massive spike in crime,” Burnett said. “There’s been kind of a trend to say, ‘We’re going to take away the authority and the ability for police to actively engage and taking tools to do their job, right and thoroughly,’ and empowering criminals.”
In June, lawmakers backtracked, once again allowing police to pursue a suspect without probable cause for a crime.
In 2021, Burnett toured the southern border. He said the “open” border led to drug smugglers and human traffickers taking control, impacting many “influential homes and families” in Washington.
While he recognizes it is a federal issue, Burnett said he wanted to engage in collaborative work across the states.
Burnett regards transgender students as a public safety issue.
In 2017, he signed a petition in uniform against the state policy recommendation that allowed trans students to use the bathroom aligning with their gender identity.
Burnett argues that “biological males that identify as females” are likely to “harass, bully or victimize” other students.
Seven years after signing that petition, Burnett didn’t give examples of those concerns materializing.
In a 2022 Seattle Times and InvestigateWest article, Burnett was cited as a constitutional sheriff. He has in the past refused to follow laws on gun control and COVID-19 masking because he believed it violated the U.S. Constitution.
During his tenure as a sheriff, former deputies filed retaliation lawsuits alleging Burnett wrongfully terminated them.
Burnett also said taxes are too high.
Rather than leveraging taxes to build more affordable housing, the state needs to relax regulations for building costs to go down.
Big infrastructure projects like on Highways 18 and 522 need to be carried out without delays.
As of Wednesday, Burnett had raised over $32,000, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Most of the top financial contributions came from construction companies, interest groups or people working in the construction industry.
The Washington Farm Bureau political action committee, Washington Small Business Council and former Speaker of the House Clyde Ballard, who contributed $250 to Burnett’s campaign, have endorsed him.
Burnett said he would vote for Donald Trump in November.
Heather Koellen
Koellen, 54, is an intensive care unit nurse at Harborview Medical Center. She’s been on the North Bend City Council since 2019.
If elected, she would quit nursing and consider leaving the City Council.
Public safety, health care, increasing affordable housing and education are some of her priorities.
Koellen said the Legislature went too far left on crime by changing pursuit laws.
“Our police force, our sheriffs could not do the job they needed to do for criminal activity,” she said. “We need to reverse course on that.”
She points to North Bend for examples of how to improve public safety. For example, a police substation in a local mall has discouraged vandalism.
Koellen also supports laws against open drug use.
Public safety and mental health are linked, Koellen said. Focusing on drug dependency and mental health will prevent future crime, she said.
Both as a nurse and a council member, Koellen has felt the state doesn’t give enough resources to local entities to help people.
“Access to health care is an issue,” she said. “I just want to help people. I think if we could get in there earlier before they end up in the hospital, that would be a huge thing.”
Koellen said that as a City Council member, she works across the aisle all the time.
Affordable housing is one issue where she wants to unite forces.
She believes more state funding would increase housing supply. Accessory dwelling units and zoning changes allowing more apartments on top of businesses could also help alleviate the problem.
“I think all the cities in the district can do similar things,” she said. “If they are motivated to do so and educated to do so. And we need to do it because you need to help your workers have a place to live.”
Despite being a landlord — she owns a rental house in Spokane — Koellen said she supported 3% to 5% caps on annual rent increases and a 6- to 12-month notice before increases.
Koellen said the current tax system is too regressive. She supports the capital gains tax as a ballot initiative proposes repealing it.
Similarly, Koellen wants to keep the Climate Commitment Act, the 2021 bill which created the state’s cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions and is also facing a repeal. She will support more charging stations for electric vehicles, retrofitting buildings and having cooling centers during heat waves.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, the Washington State Labor Council and U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier have endorsed Koellen.
As of Wednesday, Koellen had raised over $36,000, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
The Kennedy Fund, Win With Women political action committee and Harry Truman Fund were the top contributors.
Koellen plans to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee.
Aina de Lapparent Alvarez: 425-339-3449; aina.alvarez@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @Ainadla.
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