Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Thank you so much for electing me to represent the 43rd District in the Washington State House of Representatives. I am grateful for your support and am hard at work in Olympia.

I knocked on over 15,000 doors during my campaign last year, listening to your views about the challenges we face in health care, education, transportation and civil rights. Some say we can't provide better access to health care, give every child a quality education, relieve gridlocked traffic and guarantee everyone the same rights and protections under the law --- that these issues are too tough to solve. I disagree.

All my life I've accomplished things others told me couldn't be done. I worked at McDonald's to help put myself through Yale, and graduated with honors. For almost fifteen years, I have helped refugees fleeing persecution to find safety in the United States. I helped save a community lunch program at my church, Central Lutheran, which now feeds hundreds of homeless people each week. And for the past ten years, I have worked for full equality for gay men and lesbians.

I'm working closely with my seatmates, Senator Ed Murray and Speaker Frank Chopp, on a variety of issues important to our district. You can visit my homepage on the House Democrats site at and look at a list of bills that I have sponsored this session.

Thank you again for your support. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or comments.

Best Regards