Hey there!
In just over 24 hours we’re going to have our kickoff, and if you’re not registered, I’d love to take one more shot at inviting you to join us.
I know I haven’t spoken much about my opponent or why it’s so necessary to show up now more than ever to make sure we have fight for the Washington we want. Here’s what you should know - without your support voices like his will continue to drive WA state towards austerity, towards budgets that don’t fund services, and towards talking points that don’t deliver.
To put a fine point on the extreme fight we have ahead of us… Just this last week I marched with families of children who’ve died in our foster care system. Families of all political persuasions that are seeing exactly what happens when a system, scaffolded by political obstruction, forgets its own feedback loop.
Fittingly enough, I brought my children. Anna, Luke, and Matthew (American Flag shirt above). Matthew was at the core of another similar fight I was involved in these last two years, keeping our eyes focused on not shutting facilities like Buckley’s Rainier School. Yet another ideological position that our state is flirting with - that will result in preventable deaths.
The topics are different, but over and over again, the themes are the same. WA has lost touch, and should be doing better. For goodness sake, WA CAN and MUST do better!
My opponent is working hard to convince you he’ll address this. But here’s the thing… my opponent hasn’t been in the fight, and has shown no ability to fight these things.
In contrast, with your help we fought the tide and ...
We stopped the outright closure of Rainier School.
We stopped the defunding of Early Support for Infants and Toddlers.
We brokered a continuance to provide support for Infants born addicted to Fentanyl and Opioids via the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent.
Over and over we’ve shown that if you have the right team and the right message, we can win in WA.
And that’s why I know we can win in WA. In many small ways we are winning. But we need to win on a much bigger scale. And that’s why tomorrow is so important.
To me, it’s an opportunity to hear from you!
And to those who have the budget, and the keys, and have had the governance in WA it’s an opportunity to say - we need a WA that works for US, not one that expects us to work for them. We CAN’T keep doing the same things we’ve been doing and expecting different results.
That’s why you’ll see folks from all backgrounds in the room tomorrow.
People sick of ideological fights.
People like you that want someone calling balls and strikes, and getting their hands dirty fixing the issues holding WA back!
If you have an hour tomorrow afternoon, I’m asking if you will join us.
You can RSVP at the link above ^ of click this link right here.
If you can’t make it to the event, please consider a donation to the campaign. The only way we can fuel this effort is through the support of folks like you.
Here’s a link for donations and volunteering!
Thank you again, for everything and for supporting me this far.
~Josh
PS.
I want to express a personal thanks to those helping us host tomorrow:
Shawn Bunney who will be hosting as our master of ceremonies
Mayor Carolyn Robertson Harding (Buckley) who will be speaking about the communities of the 31st LD.
Rep Cyndy Jacobsen (LD 25) who will be speaking briefly and offering the prayer.
Rep Michael Keaton (LD 25) who will be speaking about the inertia of our fight.
Rep Travis Couture (LD 35) who will be speaking about where we are in WA and why sending me back is so critical.
Kelly Farms for hosting our event.
And Courtney Williams, for pulling it all together between the venues, vendors, and campaigners.