Pierce and Kitsap counties: Meet your new state senator for Legislative District 26
The 26th Legislative District is getting a new state senator.
Deb Krishnadasan will fill the state Senate seat vacated by U.S. Rep.-elect Emily Randall, a Bremerton Democrat who’s leaving Olympia for Washington, D.C. Krishnadasan’s appointment was announced Wednesday at the end of a joint Pierce-Kitsap county meeting at the Red Barn Youth Center on the Key Peninsula.
Parts of Kitsap and Pierce counties fall under the 26th Legislative District, so both jurisdictions teamed up for the appointment, according to a Dec. 2 news release.
Krishnadasan served on the Peninsula School District board for six years, spending two years as its president. Also, for the past 15 years, she has volunteered in education, according to the news release.
A special election for LD 26 will be held next November to choose a candidate to complete the rest of Randall’s term in the state Senate, McClatchy previously reported. State Rep. Michelle Caldier, a Gig Harbor Republican, recently announced her campaign for the spot in the upper chamber.
Luellen Lucid, vice chair of the 26th Legislative District Democrats, urged county officials to pick Krishnadasan during the public-comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting.
“I think that the issue for me as a Democratic Party political leader is how electable the individual is,” Lucid said, “and I do believe that Deb Krishnadasan represents a candidate who has a very good chance of being elected in 2025 to that seat.”
Who is Deb Krishnadasan?
Krishnadasan is the founder and co-chair of Stand Up for Peninsula Schools (SUP), a volunteer-driven education advocacy group based in Gig Harbor.
SUP helped pass a 2019 bond to address overcrowding and outdated facilities, according to its website. The effort resulted in six capital projects, including two modernized middle schools and four new elementary campuses. The group was also instrumental in renewing education-focused levies.
In addition, Krishnadasan is reportedly a former board member of Gig Harbor Now, the nonprofit news organization.
Krishnadasan told county officials on Wednesday that she grew up in Puyallup, and her dad was a union worker in construction. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having attended Western Washington University in Bellingham. She went on to work at Microsoft.
In 2008, Krishnadasan’s family moved to Gig Harbor. Her three kids attended public schools, and she dove head first into volunteering.
Krishnadasan highlighted some of her leadership skills.
“I know I have the ability and the talent to bring people together, to work together, to accomplish the things that will best serve the 26th,” she said, adding that education and cost of living — including child care — are among her key priorities.
Support for Krishnadasan
Roughly a dozen people spoke in support of Krishnadasan during public comment at Dec. 11’s meeting.
Former state Rep. Larry Seaquist, a Gig Harbor Democrat, remarked on the grassroots support that Krishnadasan had generated. He cited the schools that were built and improved through her work and the years spent organizing and mobilizing the community.
“I urge you to choose Deb as your choice,” Seaquist told county officials. “I think it’s a clear choice.”
Retired principal Thelma Brown said that after moving to Gig Harbor in 2016, she worked with Krishnadasan on school-district issues. She said she witnessed how the school-board leader “had a keen understanding of school-related concerns from parents, teachers and students.”
Krishnadasan’s problem-solving abilities informed her work as a community leader, Brown added, and she’ll consider constituents’ concerns.
“She will work across the political aisle, bringing parties together to solve any problems that arise,” Brown said. “Deb is an excellent choice to [be] our next state senator for the 26th district.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 11:33 AM.
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