Democrat announces bid for Puyallup House seat

A Puyallup resident who works for King County government announced Thursday she will run for an open seat in the Legislature.

Michelle Chatterton, an emergency management program coordinator for King County, will seek the seat currently held by Rep. Hans Zeiger, R-Puyallup. Zeiger is vacating his House seat to run for the state Senate in November.

Chatterton, a Democrat, will face Republican Joyce McDonald, a Pierce County Council member who previously served five terms in the state House.

In a news release Thursday, Chatterton said she is focused on helping the state solve its education-funding crisis. The state is now in contempt of court due to the Legislature’s failure to deliver a plan to fully fund public schools by 2018.

“We’re never going to fully fund our schools or build the communities we want to live in if we keep sending the same career politicians back to Olympia,” Chatterton said in the news release. “We need legislators willing to break from the mistakes of the past and make the tough choices on K-12 education funding.”

Chatterton, 26, serves on the city of Puyallup’s Parks, Recreation and Senior Advisory Board. She is a graduate of Puyallup High School who earned a master’s degree in public administration from Seattle University.

She and McDonald are competing to represent the 25th Legislative District, which includes Puyallup, South Hill, Midland, Fife and part of Parkland.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Democrat announces bid for Puyallup House seat."