There is no love lost between the candidates running for the 32nd Legislative District’s Senate seat.
Incumbent state Sen. Jesse Salomon has ably represented the area just north of Seattle for seven years. His challenger Cindy Ryu has too, as a state representative for 15 years. Both are Democrats, though Ryu says Salomon is “too moderate” and “too independent” for the district, which spans from North Seattle to Lynnwood, including the cities of Shoreline and Edmonds.
Those are descriptors Sen. Salomon embraces. And such independence is sorely needed in a Democratically controlled Legislature with strong majorities.
Sen. Salomon’s lodestar is common sense policy — particularly around public safety — rather than going-along-to-get-along with the Democratic caucus. In 2024 he refused to vote in favor of a bill that would have allowed judges to review and modify long sentences for young people if they felt the punishment “no longer serves the interests of justice.” Salomon told the editorial board he could not condone such a law.
“I feel like, if you get a 30-year sentence for murder — unless there was an error at trial — that sentence should stand,” he said. He’d indicated the same to colleagues on the Law and Justice Committee, explaining why he would not vote to advance the bill.
Ryu called him afterward, openly upset that he’d killed it. Salomon was proud to have done so. He says the interests of crime victims were a major motivator.
In this sense, the district’s voters are in an enviable position, with two seasoned candidates vying to represent them in the Senate, and a third challenger. Newcomer Ira McBee, a Republican, says his career in international conflict resolution is exactly what’s needed in Olympia for more productive conversations.
All three have valuable experience. But on transparency and independence Salomon stands apart, which is why the editorial board endorses his candidacy.
On youth crime, Salomon has been a sensible voice, sponsoring a much needed bill that would clarify when and how police may question juveniles in criminal cases. The current law, passed in 2021, has created the impression that police may never speak to minors without a lawyer present — even in instances where they are victims of a crime, or witnesses. That confusion has hampered evidence collection and resulted in at least one unsolved teen homicide.
A public defender for 20 years, Salomon suggested a tweak that would have clarified the law. But it did not pass out of the Senate Rules Committee.
He has also supported restrictions on the sale of high-potency marijuana to young people, joining the efforts of the district’s other representative, Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, to protect kids’ mental health.
But it is around transparency in government where Salomon most differs from his veteran opponent.
In the House, Rep. Ryu has been unapologetic about shielding her communications on legislative matters. The last time the editorial board met with her, in 2024, Ryu said she’d invoked this so-called “legislative privilege” to hide her correspondence from the public at least a dozen times, maybe two dozen. (This year, Ryu, still unabashed about her secrecy proclivities, said she’d invoked the “privilege” less frequently, only about a half-dozen times.)
In stark contrast, Salomon sponsored a bill that would allow voters to decide whether there should be a constitutional amendment making legislators’ written correspondence available for anyone to see. (The bill did not advance.)
That’s a public servant unafraid to be scrutinized — and similarly uninterested in the Legislature’s efforts to formalize this secrecy — which should inspire more trust among the voters he represents.
McBee, an outsider to politics, agrees with Salomon’s stance on openness. It jibes with his overall aim to make government more accountable for its decisions.
The editorial board shares that wish. So, for his long experience in public service, his commitment to transparency and his demonstrated independence, we recommend voters return Jesse Salomon for another term in the state Senate.
