It’s a sense of urgency I’ve brought to my job as Commissioner of Public Lands every day. When I was first elected in 2016 – only the second woman to serve in the role – I knew that we didn’t have time to waste in tackling the growing impacts of climate change. The status quo wouldn’t cut it.
So I fought for groundbreaking, historic new investments in how our state fights wildfires. When I took on that challenge, Crosscut described me as having the “energy of a venti-fueled dynamo and a mind that works at a wildfire pace.”
I’m running to lead our state because the challenges we face are too big for us to play it safe. If we want to keep up, we need to make progress, and I’m going to bring that same energy to the governor’s office.
The impacts of climate change are bearing down on all of us, and we have to fight it with everything we’ve got to protect our lands, waters, and communities.
Our housing crisis isn’t just in the cities along I-5, we’re seeing it in places like Omak and Forks.
And from Ocean Shores to Okanogan, Seattle to Spokane, income inequality is growing and people are being pushed out of the middle class.
These are tough challenges, we all know that. But we can solve them. What we need are leaders who are bold, willing to take risks, and able to bring us together around our shared values.
My Northwest roots run deep, and I know we can meet these challenges head on. My grandparents were cattle ranchers in Pierce County. My sister and I grew up in Portland, raised by a single father. My dad was a do-or-die union guy who took great pride in serving the community. After school, I would visit him at the fire station where he worked. It was there I learned about dedication and purpose. These heroes taught me that progress comes from working together and putting people first.
It was a lesson I never forgot, and it’s how I’ve led in my time as Commissioner of Public Lands – being unyielding in my fight to tackle problems and push my agency into new areas, but also being unyielding in winning people over.
I’m running for governor to unite us so that we can tackle these challenges, together, to create stronger communities, a thriving economy, and a better future for everyone.