Election 2022: Young, Randall both see a solid path to victory in 26th Senate race

The 2022 Senate race for the 26th District seat is shaping up much the way it did in 2018.

Campaign war chests in the swing district race between newcomer Emily Randall and her Republican opponent Marty McClendon in 2018 climbed above $1 million. As of Oct. 3, spending in the 2022 race between Randall and Republican challenger state Rep. Jesse Young stands at nearly $1.17 million, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Randall was buoyed by Aug. 2 primary results that put her at 51.52% of the vote to Young's 44.36%. She led in the 2018 primary against McClendon as well (49.58% to 46.39%), and squeaked by during the November general election, winning by just 104 votes during a recount.

Previous election news: 26th District House candidates campaign in swing district

Both Young and Randall have a positive spin on the primary results going into the November general election.

"The results tell me that what we're doing has been working, connecting with neighbors, listening to people's issues, fighting for the things that our neighbors care about, that's working," Randall said.

Young, on the other hand, thinks he'll have an advantage in the November election, in which turnout is typically larger. Turnout in Kitsap County was 43.98% and 36.37% in Pierce County in the August primary. The 26th District includes portions of both counties.

In 2018, turnout in Kitsap between August and November went from 39.5% in Kitsap County to 72.4% in November.

"They always put me over the top, because they like what I do and how hard I work," said Young, who stood for election for his House seat and won four times.

The Senate race, in a district that is always competitive, continues to be of statewide interest as Republicans look to increase their seats there. Democrats currently have a 29-20 majority in the state Senate.

Before entering the Legislature, Young was a software engineer and IT consultant, working for finance, aerospace and healthcare corporations. He lives in Gig Harbor.

Young, who was appointed to the 26th District Position 1 House seat in 2014 to replace Republican Jan Angel following her election to Senate, now finds himself seeking out the same path as his predecessor.

He said he disagrees with the direction Randall is taking the district and said his priorities will be public safety and standing up for low-income families.

"The constituents deserve someone who will represent their values and protect their children from crime, protect their children from poverty, protect their children from foreign competition so that they can have a job," Young said. "Those are the reasons why I'm motivated to move forward to the Senate."

Young said he's concerned about rising rates of drug use and is also critical of police reform laws passed in the Legislature in 2021, saying that it's necessary to make "crime illegal again," referring to legislation that curtailed the situations in which police can pursue those suspected of a crime in vehicles and as well as the state Supreme Court's Blake decision, which ruled the state's drug possession laws were unconstitutional.

Another priority if elected is "parental rights," Young said, and giving parents more options in where they send their child to school.

"Parents need to be listened to, and we need to be partnering with parents with transparency for the sake of our children's education," Young said.

Young thinks his track record of voting for lower taxes and balanced state budgets are the reasons why voters have kept him in office, and he also cites his support of the military and health care. He said he's signed onto legislation that provides more health care options for veterans and greater mental health care options.

"In this district, typically every politician panders to veterans. I deliver for veterans, and I kept my promise to provide for our veterans and their families to make sure that they have greater health care options," Young said.

Young claims victory in making traveling across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge cheaper, saying he delivered on a promise to put a cap on bridge tolls. Legislation he co-sponsored in 2018 capped tolls until 2022 while adjusting the debt structure that financed the bridge. It passed.

Randall also claims victory on the bridge toll issue, sponsoring legislation during the 2022 session that transferred $130 million from the state's general fund to help pay off bridge debt and reduced tolls on the bridge. Tolls were reduced by 75 cents for two-axle vehicles on Oct. 1, and more for trucks.

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Randall said her motivations for running are the same as when she ran in 2018. In 1993, her family benefited from the Legislature's move to expand Medicaid, allowing her sister Olivia, who was born with microcephaly, to receive the health care she needed. Randall wants to help more families who don't have access to affordable health care, she said.

In a second term, Randall said she'll keep fighting for healthcare access and reproductive rights.

"We still have so many families who are struggling to access health care, whether that's reproductive health care or mental health and substance use disorder treatment ... so I'm eager to keep working to help families, not just get by but thrive," Randall said.

Randall said her top priority for a second term would be housing affordability. She said she is working with colleagues on plans to expand the housing supply, tackle skyrocketing rent prices, increase permanent supportive housing and transitional housing, and broaden first-time homebuyer programs, she said.

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Randall previously filed legislation regarding hospital mergers and acquisitions, and she said she would reintroduce it during the next session to better regulate hospital systems and protect access to health care, including reproductive health care, she said.

Randall said she's proud of seeing a high percentage of the bills she sponsored pass. She points specifically to work to expand Medicaid coverage to postpartum patients and to end the practice of paying less than minimum wage to workers with disabilities.

In addition to her work on reducing Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolls. she said she wants to do further work on transportation.

"I think even though we've accomplished a lot; there's still so much more to do to make life a little easier for our neighbors," said Randall, adding that implementing an infrastructure solution to the Gorst bottleneck is a top priority.

After the redistricting this year, the 26th District now includes part of west Bremerton in addition to Gorst, Port Orchard and Gig Harbor.

Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.

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This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Washington's Young, Randall both see solid path to victory in 26th Senate race