Letters to the Editor

Op-ed | Everyone should vote in upcoming primary

Five students from Gig Harbor and Tacoma researched and interviewed candidates for the 26th Legislative District state Senate seat: Incumbent Sen. Deb Krishnadasan, D-Gig Harbor, and challenger Rep. Michelle Calider, R-Gig Harbor. The students of Mimmi Beck, a Gig Harbor ACT/SAT tutor and college admissions coach, wrote essays based on their experiences.

My name is Pearce Eyford, and I am a senior at Bellarmine. Currently, I work at the YMCA and help run the Shower program, enabling those in need and the homeless to have a shower and snack. I wanted to see how the people in power locally create change that benefits those in need.

Getting to sit down and meet with Michelle Caldier, I found her to be an open and honest, thoughtful, caring, and driven representative. She comes from a trauma-filled life. She was left with blindness in one eye from complications during birth, grew up in foster care, ran away at 17, had a baby at 19, and went blind in the other eye due to glaucoma in her forties. Michelle worked hard to go to dental school with a child, eventually devoting some of her practice to aiding senior citizens in assisted care. When Medicaid dental benefits to people in assisted care were cut, it led to her becoming involved in politics.

Pearce Eyford

Despite her troubles, Michelle possesses a driven can-do attitude and pushes through with energy, stating, “People either like me or they don’t.” She plans to aid vulnerable parts of the community through special needs and school-related funding, wants to protect abused women in prison from facing more sexual assault related experiences so these women are less “beat down,” and wants to negate the effects of inflation that Washington families face. Michelle does not let a political divide affect her and connects with all Democratic and Republican representatives. She is bold and not afraid of a ruthless political landscape.

Through Michelle, I learned how making our state business-friendly is interconnected with helping lower class citizens of our society and how “Our state isn’t very good for businesses”. By reducing taxes on business, we can undo the effect of the state “pushing out producers of the economy” like small businesses who can’t afford to run, which in turn affects how much money the government is able to collect from taxes and what it can fund. Michelle gave the impression of being down-to-earth and a person who doesn’t let external pressures fold her convictions.

While meeting with Deb Krishnadasen, I learned of her motivation for being a representative: School funding and protecting people economically. She served two terms on the Peninsula School Board, eventually becoming president, where she formed a public school advocacy group and successfully passed funding campaigns for district education programs and to build and modernize several schools.

Deb left me with the impression of being a hardworking and compassionate individual who takes on more of a centrist view, saying, “People are happy that I’m looking at both sides”. She works well connecting with Democrats and Republicans, recalling a time when doorbelling where someone had told her, “You won’t want to talk to me”. Deb used this as an opportunity to connect and talk over common issues, finding out they both are supporters of law enforcement and how she can aid them. Deb teared up recounting that a woman told her, “I’m afraid I’m not going to have food for my daughter.” Deb plans to aid with the SNAP and Medicaid cuts from the federal government by utilizing the state’s rainy day fund to fight for the rights of people. Deb will “fight for food assistance,” recognizing SNAP recipients will receive $66 less a month and argued the lack of funding in programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and funding in schools will have to be filled by the state.

The greatest experience I had while doorbelling alongside Deb was witnessing the impact senators can make. From one family we heard about the suicide of their teenage son and how they wanted legislation to protect against cyber bullying. Another family we came across had recently gone through a house fire, alerting the possible need for EV Charging safeguards. Through these interactions Deb learns of issues that locals might face and connects with them on an emotional level and in support of the community around her.

After meeting with both candidates, I’d like for everyone to consider voting in the local primary due to the importance the vote holds in designing our state’s future.

Pearce Eyford

Tacoma

Bellarmine Preparatory School