Teamsters’ Carrie Hesch seeks House seat in 26th District

Her campaign in the Kitsap Peninsula is about resilience — her communities’ and her own

By CHERIKA CARTER

GIG HARBOR, Wash. (May 14, 2020) — Carrie Hesch knows something about resilience.

A survivor of domestic violence, Hesch is the proud mother of two lovely daughters — one a local city police officer and the other a “special needs community angel.” She works at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, serves as an elected Director on the Key Peninsula Community Services Board, and is a proud Shop Steward for Teamsters Local 117.

Hesch participated in the Washington State Labor Council’s Path to Power program, which provides union members and local community activists with the tools and tips to run a successful political campaign and get elected in an effort to build power that will positively influence our communities. Now she is running for the State House of Representatives in the 26th Legislative District, representing Kitsap Peninsula communities from Bremerton and Port Orchard south to Gig Harbor.

Hesch says the COVID-19 crisis has reinforced her belief that when we stick together we can adapt, change and grow stronger.

“What is not always understood is that public responses to times of crisis are only as successful as a community is resilient,” she said. “I can think of no better model of resilient communities than our Union families. My union story is woven with risk, uncertainty, adapting to change, and ultimately a net gain in personal resilience that led to my Teamsters Union Representative asking me if I would consider running for office and being a voice for working families in the Legislature. I said, ‘Absolutely,’ because I know it is unions that are leading the charge in planning for community resilience under the rigors we will face addressing COVID-19 and the climate crisis.”

Her concern about the climate crisis — and its impact on our infrastructure and our most vulnerable populations — inspired her to go back to school and earn her Masters of Infrastructure, Planning & Management from the University of Washington.

“The most critical component to our infrastructure systems is the human component,” Hesch says. “We are responsible for adapting our ways to mitigate and adapt for the sustainability of future generations. This can only be accomplished by the working people of all unions, for we are the hands and minds that design, build, maintain and operate all of the critical infrastructure that keeps our communities moving and thriving.”

She is running for State Representative because she believes the solutions to big problems begin at home in our communities.

“We are at a tipping point in Washington state and across our nation,” Hesch said. “Structural racism and accelerating economic inequality is being fueled by an upside-down tax system and expanded corporate power over working families. It has made it harder and harder for working people to win better pay and working conditions. So that’s where we must start — by providing the basic building blocks to health and opportunity for families in our communities. When we can take care of ourselves, we can do a better job taking care of each other.”

Learn more about her at CarrieHesch.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 Virtual COPE Convention on Saturday, May 16. Cherika can be reached at ccarter@wslc.org.

PREVIOUSLY in Cherika’s Corner:

IBEW’s Clint Bryson running to serve working families of 19th LD — Assisting his union’s members as Assistant Business Manager for IBEW Local 76 has inspired Clint Bryson to seek a House seat in Southwest Washington.

Suzanne Woodard aims to ‘bring healthy change’ to 10th LD House — UFCW 21 member Suzanne Woodard has seen firsthand the importance of having a strong union and effective government leaders in delivering quality health care in her community.

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 Washington State Senate.