It’s election season again.
With the state’s filing deadline passing this week, Snoqualmie Valley voters can get their first look at the candidates they’ll be choosing from in the 2022 midterm elections.
There are four state representative races with ties to the Valley. Those races will feature an Aug. 2 primary, with the top two candidates in each race moving on to a general election in November. The winner will serve in Olympia for the next two years.
This will be the first statewide election since legislative and congressional districts were redrawn last year alongside the release of the 2020 Census. The state redraws its political boundaries every decade to better reflect population growth and demographic changes.
For some Valley residents, that redrawing means they’ll be voting in a different district. Until last year, the majority of the Valley was in the 5th District, but the majority of North Bend and Carnation — alongside a portion of Fall City — were moved into the 12th District.
In the 5th District, incumbent Rep. Bill Ramos will face three challengers in this year’s August primary. Ramos, a Democrat and former Issaquah City Councilmember, has served the 5th District since 2019.
Ramos was last reelected in 2020, winning 60% of the vote over Republican Ken Moninski. Moninski has filed again in this year’s election. Moninski is a Maple Valley resident and owner of Global Aircraft Services, according to his campaign website.
Ramos will also face challenges from Republican Landon Halverson, a recent college graduate and Issaquah resident, and Austin Bryant, another Issaquah resident who lists his party affiliation as “Elven Way Party.”
In the other 5th District race, incumbent Rep. Lisa Callan will face Republican Chad Magendanz. Callan, a Democrat and former Issaquah School Board member, ran unopposed in last year’s election and has been serving the 5th District since 2019.
Magendanz is currently a teacher in the Bellevue School District, according to his Linkedin profile, and formerly served as a 5th District representative between 2013 and 2017. He ran for state Senate in 2016, narrowly losing to current 5th District Senator Mark Mullet, a Democrat.
In the 13th District, incumbent Rep. Mike Steele and challenger Robert Amenn, bothRepublicans, will face off. Steele, out of Chelan, has served the 13th District since 2017 and ran unopposed in his last election. He is a former Chelan City Councilmember. Amenn is a former Gold Bar City Councilmember.
Incumbent state Rep. Keith Goehner will run unopposed in the other 12th District race. Goehner is a Republican from Leavenworth, who has served the 12th District since 2019. He is a former teacher and Chelan County Commissioner.
