When the Metropolitan King County Council appointed Rep. Edwin Obras to the state Legislature in 2024, Obras had spent more than 15 years as an employee of the city of Seattle’s Human Services Department. He replaced Rep. Tina Orwall, who was appointed to an open state Senate seat.
Since that time, Obras has drawn from his local government experience to become an effective representative of the 33rd District. He deserves to be reelected to the district’s Position 1 seat.
In 2025, Obras helped Gov. Bob Ferguson get HB 2165 through the Legislature, which forbids anyone from impersonating a law enforcement agent, either actively or simply in a disguise or flashing a fake badge. The bill was drafted in response to reports of people pretending to be federal immigration enforcement agents.
Obras, of Burien, also supported the millionaires tax, a 9.9% tax Washingtonians will pay on the amount they earn above $1 million starting in 2029. He said he would not support any attempt to lower the $1 million threshold.
But when it comes to taxes, he was critical of the state’s expansion of the Business and Occupation tax, a vote that went against the Democratic Party’s leadership.
“I have very many small businesses and medium-size businesses (in his district) that are struggling. We have a robust Kent Valley industry, and those are my constituents as well, and I want to be thoughtful about how I approach working with them and making sure they feel supported as well,” Obras said.
When it comes to how he does his job in Olympia, he said he has not and would not invoke legislative privilege, a practice that some lawmakers use to shield internal communications and deliberations from the public.
“I worked for the city of Seattle for the last 18 years and we don’t have any kind of privilege of any kind to not respond to public disclosure requests. Even the mayor has to provide information. I don’t see a reason to invoke it now or in the future.”
Obras is being challenged by Republicans Darryl K. Jones and Chris Martinez. Neither candidate participated in The Times endorsement process.
