Jim Mayhew, a former Snoqualmie City Council member and business and finance executive, announced he will run for State Senate in the newly re-drawn 12th Legislative District.
Democrat Jim Mayhew, a strong supporter of women’s reproductive rights and investments in public education, files against anti-choice Republican Brad Hawkins.
The 12th District has become a “swing” district after a recent decision by a Federal judge and now includes most of Chelan County on the east side of the mountains, as well as parts of King and Snohomish counties. In fact, both President Joe Biden and Democratic U.S. Representative Kim Schrier won in the new 12th district.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to unite the communities of the ‘new’ 12th District around common sense priorities that truly make a difference in our lives,” said Mayhew, who announced his campaign in Wenatchee at a community event. “I’ve spent my career in business and local government, taking a data-driven approach– rooted in accountability and making every dollar count. In state government, we need this focus to maximize investments in our schools, our kids’ welfare, our communities’ affordability, protecting the environment, and the safety of our roads and bridges. I am excited for this opportunity and look forward to the campaign ahead.”
Specifically, Mayhew wants to see greater prioritization and efficiency in how state resources are dedicated to addressing the priorities of Washingtonians, including affordable housing for workers and young families and meeting the acute behavioral health and addiction recovery needs of people in crisis.
“We have an affordable housing crisis in our state– in communities large and small– that will require private sector leadership and also state partnerships,” said Mayhew. “This means smart land use laws that allow for greater affordability, subsidies for workforce and low-income housing, and truly working alongside local governments to help people in crisis off of our streets and into drug treatment, mental health support, and other emergency shelter and services.”
For Mayhew, a father of two who, as a child, experienced poverty and housing insecurity and lived for a time in foster care, caring for kids and investing in public education is both a personal and a policy priority.
“We need to ensure that every child is cared for in our state– with access to great schools, good food, and loving homes,” said Mayhew. “Yet we have consistently allowed vulnerable kids to slip through the cracks, and we underfund our schools. I want every child to have the basics needed to reach their potential, and that means we must get beyond soundbites of support for children and education and back up our values with effective investments needed to help every kid succeed.”
Mayhew wants to bring his business and budgeting acumen to meet these and other challenges– including improving freight mobility and shipment of Washington agricultural products to port, improving workforce training for clean energy and emerging industries, and funding for aging roads and bridges. As part of this commitment, Mayhew will begin his campaign with a “listening tour” of communities throughout the district to learn more ideas and perspectives to improve local economies and create family wage jobs.
“I’ve worked with some of the largest and most successful corporations in the world to bring programs to scale, manage resources, and deliver results,” said Mayhew. “I am excited to bring these skills to Olympia to invest in our state’s economy and workforce– uniting eastern and western Washington around shared values of good jobs in construction, agriculture, and clean energy markets for Washington produce and planes, and communities that support good schools and housing for all who want to call them home.”
With state-level threats to abortion rights and reproductive health continuing to escalate in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision, Mayhew is also running to ensure that women maintain the freedom to control their personal and medical decisions.
“One of the clearest contrasts in this race is my unflinching commitment to reproductive health care and rights,” said Mayhew. “The last two years have made it clear that we can take nothing for granted at the state or federal level, and we need champions in Olympia to fight for the rights and liberty of Washington women.”
Mayhew begins his campaign with support from fellow Snoqualmie City Council members, as well as legislators from the 5th Legislative District, where many of the redrawn 12th gained precincts. He expects this to be a close, competitive race.
“Many voters in this district do not know the Republican incumbent, and they are looking for common sense leadership committed to making government work better– not a rigid ideological perspective,” said Mayhew. “I’m excited to get out into the cities and small towns of this district, listen to the ideas of people from all walks of life, and share my ideas for how we can build a better future for all residents of our state.”
About Jim: Jim Mayhew was raised by a single mom in the Seattle area, and as a teen lived in foster care before graduating from Roosevelt High School. Jim worked to attend the University of Washington, graduating with a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting before beginning a three decade career in corporate financial management that included stops in New York City, Singapore, and the Silicon Valley. Returning home to the Northwest to serve as CFO of a Fortune 1000 company, Jim and his wife Ramsey settled in the city of Snoqualmie. Jim was soon appointed, and later won election, to the City Council where he has been a champion of fiscal responsibility and worked on issues of affordability, public safety, regional transportation and results-oriented human services. Their sons currently attend Stanford University and the University of Washington.
[Information provided by James Mayhew for State Senate]
Comments
I appreciate that there are strong differences in the two candidates for this election. I think we are able to think about the two sets of positions offered by each candidate so that we can choose the candidate who best represents our views.