In 2018, after a heated election where Republicans hurled every bit of hateful rhetoric they could muster about her age, gender, and sexual orientation, Senator Emily Randall beat her anti-choice opponent and flipped the 26th Legislative District blue.
In the State Senate, there’s a tradition where new members are introduced with speeches from their colleagues. One of us (Senator Liias) seized the moment to make sure the Republicans knew Randall was “queer,” repeating it seven times in one speech. She’s the first queer state senator in Washington’s history, and that fact wasn’t just historic—it was monumental.
Emily Randall is our colleague and friend, and if she is elected to Congress, it will be a loss for the Washington State Legislature—but we all know the other Washington needs a lot of help.
The 6th Congressional District has existed for 91 years, and in those 91 years, it has only ever been represented by white men. If Randall is elected, she will be the first woman and first person of color to hold the seat, the first openly LGBTQ+ person in Washington’s Congressional delegation, and the first queer Latina elected to Congress anywhere in the country. That’s a big fucking deal.
Representation matters, but policy and results matter just as much. In her six years in the Senate, Randall sponsored or co-sponsored nearly 200 bills that became law. After her first election in 2018, Randall quickly became the Senate’s top champion on abortion access and reproductive health. She’s been a leader on essentially every reproductive health bill that has come through our chamber, including leading the fight over the past few years on legislation to ensure hospital mergers don’t restrict access to abortion care. She also served as the chair of the higher education committee, where she helped create the most generous financial aid program for college students of its time.
Because of this leadership, it was no surprise when Planned Parenthood Action Fund gave Randall their sole endorsement. More surprising was the endorsement that came next from Senator Patty Murray. The “mom in tennis shoes” rarely gets involved in contested Democratic primaries, but she chose to back Randall.
While there are two Democrats in this race, Randall is the only one with a track record of passing legislation and winning tough elections against Republicans. She’s also the only candidate endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council and the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund. For all of these reasons, she was the only candidate recommended in the 2024 Progressive Voters Guide.
Randall’s opponent, Hilary Franz, was endorsed by the Seattle Times Editorial Board and has done great work leading wildfire response in Washington. But, there are some concerns—recent reporting revealed that fifteen current and former employees at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have a wide range of ethical concerns about Franz, including the alleged use of state resources to support her multiple political campaigns for higher office.
The Washington Public Employees Association, which represents 750 DNR employees, said they “made the mistake” of supporting Franz in her past campaigns—and shortly after the article was published, they filed an official ethics complaint with the Washington Executive Ethics Board.
These problems are too much to ignore. We know Emily Randall shares Washington state voters’ values of transparency and ethics, so we must send her to Congress.
Randall will show up, work hard, and get shit done—and be transformative for our state.
Also, even if The Stranger didn’t endorse in the primary, we still love the outlet and will continue to bring snacks to our future endorsement meetings. We hope you reconsider endorsing in the 6th in the general election.
Senator Marko Liias and Senator Joe Nguyễn are members of the Washington State Senate.
