Michele Smith Announces State Senate Run in District 25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Puyallup) Michele Smith, today announced she is running for the state Senate in District 25, against longtime incumbent Senator Jim Kastama.

Smith, 56, who works at the state House, listed transportation, education, and health care as the most important issues facing the Puyallup-South Hill area district.

“Traffic congestion in our area is awful – yet it’s only the most visible sign that state government is not providing critical services,” Smith said. “Nurses and home health care workers do not have the resources they need and, in the classroom, students are not getting the first-class education they deserve.”

Smith noted that state spending has increased by over 30 percent in the past four years and the 25th District has little to show for it.

“It’s time for a change. We’ve seen our quality of life decline over the past 12 years while the current Senator has been in the Legislature. I know I can help our community find real common sense solutions.”

Smith, who served as Rep. Joyce McDonald’s legislative aide, has McDonald’s strongest endorsement.

“Michele Smith will be an outstanding State Senator,” McDonald said. “Working with her in the House, I was impressed with her knowledge of the community and her can do spirit tackling difficult problems. She cares about the people – not the political parties.”

As a legislative staffer for the past five years, Smith has specialized in transportation, criminal justice and senior citizens issues.

“We should give more significant property tax relief to senior citizens and veterans,” Smith explains. “The state constitution allows it and veterans and seniors deserve it.”

Smith is an outspoken critic of the state government’s handling of sex predators. “I don’t know why the state government has been so lax in the way they’re handling these vicious perverts,” Smith said. “They are letting them out too early and not providing the necessary supervision. The Department of corrections waited until a girl was abducted in front of her home in Tacoma and killed before they began using the GPS monitoring we have been fighting to get.”

Smith’s community service includes:

• Vice President, Board of Directors Argus Manor, Senior low income apartment complex

• YMCA Volunteer Coordinator

• YMCA Volunteer of the Year

• AWANA Leader

• BSF Leadership

• Smith was also a foster parent, helping 10 children

Smith and her husband, Gary, have been married for 34 years and have 2 children.

The 25th District includes Puyallup, South Hill, Fife, and part of Edgewood.