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ELECTION

Voters can send a nurse to Olympia in King Co.’s 5th LD

WSNA member Ingrid Anderson wants to broaden her public service to the Senate

 

By CHERIKA CARTER


(April 20, 2020) — Nurses and healthcare workers in Washington state — and across the nation and world — are inspiring everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic with their passion, dedication, and courage. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have more people like that in the halls of the State Capitol in Olympia?

We can.

Ingrid Anderson, a Registered Nurse at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue and a member of the Washington State Nurses Association, is a Democratic candidate for State Senate in Washington’s 5th Legislative District in eastern King County. She was a participant in the Washington State Labor Council’s Path to Power program and now she is seeking public office for the same reason she became a nurse: her dedication to public service.

“Early in my career, I learned the concept of cura personalis, meaning ‘care for the entire person’,” Anderson said. “As a nurse, and as a member of the community, I’ve committed myself to this fundamental idea of helping others, giving back, and supporting all of our neighbors, whether at their bedside, on the street, or wherever they may have need. It’s an idea that is more important now than ever as we take on the COVID-19 crisis.”

She’s an emergency nurse and psychiatric nurse at Overlake so she has witnessed firsthand the destruction of the coronavirus. Like all of us, she has been inspired by her co-workers’ response, but also by that of other working people in her Snoqualmie Valley community, where she has lived for more than 30 years.

“We are facing unprecedented and incredibly challenging times, but our workers on the frontline, nurses, respiratory therapists like my husband, retail clerks, and so many others, are risking their own health and well-being to put our neighbors first,” Anderson said. “While it should not take a pandemic to recognize the dignity of our work, I am grateful that people across the country are witnessing firsthand the bravery and courage of our everyday heroes.”

And she understands and appreciates the importance of joining together in a union.

“I was a grocer before I became a nurse. I have been a union member since I was 18 because I know the power we have when we work together,” she said. “The support of our unions has been crucial – they have helped us stay organized and ensured our workplaces are as safe as possible with good wages and strong benefits throughout this crisis.”

So why has Anderson decided to take on incumbent Democratic state Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) this fall?

“I’m running for the Legislature to bring new leadership, a new vision, and a new community-driven focus to the State Senate,” she said. “I was inspired to run because my opponent has sided time and again with giant corporations and special interests and against working families, voting against I-1000, addressing wage discrimination against women in the workplace, and voting against our teachers and rest breaks for nurses, to name a few examples.”

Anderson says that after the COVID-19 outbreak ends our state will be facing a new set of challenges and it needs some new leadership.

“When the Legislature comes together next January, they will face the serious and difficult challenge of responding to the aftermath of COVID-19,” she said. “If I am elected, I will ensure there is an unwavering and informed voice at the table for the needs of working families, committed to creating affordable health care, great schools, a clean environment, and an economy where everyone can succeed.”

Learn more about Ingrid Anderson at IngridForStateSenate.com.


Cherika Carter is Political and Strategic Campaigns Director for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. The WSLC has not yet taken endorsement action in this race. WSLC endorsements will be considered at the council’s COPE Convention in May. Cherika can be reached at ccarter@wslc.org.

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