Meet the independent running to represent downtown Snoqualmie

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 30, 2026

Topher Lertiz wants to address District 5’s issues through a non-partisan lens at the state level.

Topher Leritz says he’s the “fun candidate,” but that doesn’t mean the Enumclaw resident is racing for giggles.

Not much is known about the Legislative District 5 Representative Pos. 1 candidate outside of a scant voter’s guide blurb and his election website.

That’s somewhat on purpose, but also a natural consequence of running as close to a $0 campaign as he can, Leritz said, eschewing party and special interest funds and endorsements to stick to his “independent” label.

Knocking on doors is “not nearly as effective as if you have campaign money, like Michelle Bennett and [Rep.] Zach Hall do, that… in one fell swoop can put six to seven thousands signs across the district,” Leritz said in a recent interview, but it is much more intimate. “I would so much rather spend eight to twelve hours out and about… bruising knuckles and getting to know people than I would that same amount of time posting signs on the side of the road for people to drive by and, let’s be honest, probably miss or maybe even get annoyed about.”

This is not to say that Leritz is a political outsider or unfamiliar with the gritty realities of partisan politics.

Instead, he said his work as private investigator doing campaign strategy and opposition research and “seeing how the sausage gets made” has finally spurred Leritz to finally take center stage.

“Watching how partisan politicians are getting away with giving the voters buzzwords and headlines… has become so revolting to me that, more than anything, this campaign is an attempt to throw a hammer at that system and really get people involved and angry that their lawmakers are taking advantage of them,” he said, adding that it’s the same for both Democratic and Republican leaders. “Those party politics are just so out of touch with the actual people in their communities and the actual problems that they have every day.”

Leritz only recently moved to Enumclaw, but he said he’s had his eyes on the area for a while.

“Enumclaw is everything I could ask for, it’s far enough from everything that I feel fully detached from the city life (blegh) but still integrated enough that it isn’t an odyssey to grab groceries or catch a plane,” he said. “The people here are nice, and things do move slower. Breathing here is just easier than anywhere else.”

Lertiz spends a lot of his free time in the forest, but he’s not just a nature lover, but a conservationist that recovers abandoned vehicles on SR 410 service roads or help people in emergency situations.

“During our big blow last December, we bypassed 410 and took Stampede Pass up, through several feet of snow, to help rescue and recover several campers who had gotten stuck from the storm,” he said, noting the extreme rainfall and flooding that greatly impacted King County. “We actually ended up traveling west on Naches 4×4 trail (sort of a scary no no) to get around a washout and get to as many people as possible.”

He decided to go straight for representing Enumclaw and Legislative District 5 instead of starting at the city level because he fells Enumclaw has a good handle on things.

“The incumbent of the legislature seat, however, is an absolute joke of party lines complacency and it’s leaving most of the district — most of the state — out,” he added.

Affordable houing, DUI victim fund

Leritz touches on most, if not all, of the other big issues his opponents do as well — housing affordability, the environment, education funding, etc. — but he also focuses on some niche issues that may help him stand out.

His proposal to help renters become first-time homebuyers resembles that of a rent-to-own program.

“It’s a tough squeeze to get out of that renting environment,” Leritz said. “I’m a renter myself, and I’m having a terrible experience in my renting situation in Enumclaw, which is nothing something I would have expected when I moved here.’

For renters, he continued, the state should set up a mandatory rent-based saving program, where a small percentage of the rent would be deposited into the account every payment along with a landlord contribution.

Those funds would then be used for a future down payment on a home.

Additionally, Lertiz said he would push for at least a five-year period where first-time homebuyers receive heavy property tax relief.

These windfalls for first-time home owners would be balanced by additional fees and taxes on investment home buyers, out-of-state buyers, and those who purchase more expensive homes.

Lertiz said this proposal will be popular with renters and average homeowners, but is likely to be unpopular with “everyone else.”

That doesn’t seem to phase him.

“As a Washington lawmaker, my first priority would be Washingtonians, and making sure they can stay in Washington and afford to live in Washington, no matter what,” he continued. “I don’t think that anyone living in this state should feel like they have to move to Idaho or Arizona or Montana just to be able to afford basic things like a roof 0ver their head.”

A more niche issue Leritz wants to push is better aiding the victims of DUIs through a DUI Victim Endowment Fund, funded by additional fees on drivers found under the influence and small additional fees on traffic citations.

“It’s so easy for anybody to turn a blind eye to how to devastating a DUI can be,” Lertiz said, adding that he’s a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers member. “…It’s something the state has to be doing something more about.”

For more information about Lertiz’s stance on other political issues, go to electtopherleritz.com.