Undecided on District 2 House race? Here’s what Marshall, Snaza have to say before Nov. 5
The two candidates running to replace longtime state Rep. J.T. Wilcox in the Legislative District 2 race are former Eatonville School Board member Matt Marshall and John Snaza, who served as Thurston County Sheriff for 12 years.
Both are running as Republicans. In the August primary, Marshall captured 34% of the vote — the most of the four candidates in the race — followed by Snaza at 29.8%.
District 2 encompasses a large swath of southeast Pierce County as well as east Thurston County, including the Nisqually area and the city of Yelm.
With only a few days to go before the general election, The Olympian asked the candidates why still undecided voters should vote for them. Here’s what the two candidates had to say.
Matt Marshall
Marshall, 40, who works as an orthopedic surgery physician assistant in the Olympia area, said he will bring an outsider’s perspective to the job.
“We need change in Olympia,” he said, adding that he will work across the aisle with Democrats to find solutions to problems that are facing the state, such as homelessness, property crime and school funding. He cited the recent experience of Yelm Community Schools, which had laid off many employees after two levy failures.
“We need to find a way to properly fund education,” he said. “The current system (of relying on levies to fund a portion of school district budgets) is failing the state and students.”
He also supports law enforcement, wanting to make sure they are fully able to do their jobs so that they can hold criminals accountable.
John Snaza
Snaza, 59, touted his experience as a longtime sheriff.
“I’ve always been there for my people, the county and my community and I will serve the district the same way,” he said.
As sheriff, he worked with legislators over the years, so he “knows what it takes,” he said.
“I know we’ll have to work together to make things work out for the state, and I have done that,” he said. “I’m really committed to public service and serving the community.”
After Snaza lost his re-election campaign for sheriff, he was “retired” for about six months before he went back to work, he said.
Since then, Snaza has been the director of security services for Seattle’s Finest Security and Traffic Control, also known as Pacific Northwest’s Finest Security and Traffic Control. They offer armed and unarmed security services, as well as executive protection, he said.
Campaign contributions
As far as fundraising goes, Snaza has a huge lead in that category, raising roughly $156,000 to Marshall’s $30,600.
The largest portion of that total, which is slightly more than $91,000, has come from the House Republican Caucus, followed by political action committees, businesses, individuals and a category identified as miscellaneous.
About $70,000 has been spent on printed campaign literature and fliers, state PDC data show.
Most of Marshall’s funds have come from individual donors, or about $18,000 of the total. Management and consulting services top the list of his expenditures, according to state PDC data.
This story was originally published November 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
