Democrats try to break GOP hold on 31st

For years, Republicans have held all three legislative seats in the rural reaches and bedroom communities of the 31st District, but Democrats once again are trying to break the lock.

In a repeat of the 2002 race, Auburn attorney Yvonne Ward, a Democrat, will face off this November against Republican state Sen. Pam Roach for the state Senate seat. Financially speaking, it's the district's most competitive race: Before the primary Ward had raised nearly $100,000, and Roach more than $130,000.

Ward, former vice chairwoman of the Auburn Planning Commission, is concerned that residents are losing control of the fast-paced growth in the area. Developers are causing gridlock and damaging the environment, she said, without truly paying their way.

"I'd like to make it easier to have a say, make it easier for citizens to control their communities, rather than have them changed in a negative way," said Ward, who counts attorneys, Planned Parenthood and the state Women's Political Caucus among her supporters.

State Senate, 31st District


Pam Roach
Party: Republican

Personal: Age 58, married, five children

Education: Teaching certificate and bachelor's degree in history, Brigham Young University

Experience: State senator, four terms; previously, chief legislative assistant and aide to Kent Pullen, who was a state senator and Metropolitan King County Council member; chaired the committee "Citizens Against Unfair Property Taxes"; member of Sumner Rotary; board member for Valley Cities Counseling & Consulting; member of state autism task force

Web site: www.electpamroach.com

Yvonne Ward
Party: Democrat

Personal: Age 43, married

Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, Western Washington University; law degree, University of Washington

Experience: Attorney; represented Concerned Citizens of Auburn and Federal Way in its successful fight to keep sex-offender housing out of the area; past chairwoman, state Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs; former vice chairwoman, Auburn Planning Commission

Web site: www.yvonneward.com

State House, 31st District, Position 1


Dan Roach
Party: Republican

Personal: Age 33, married, three children

Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, Brigham Young University

Experience: State representative, three terms; owner, Roach Gymnastics; charter member, Bonney Lake Lions Club; created Student Meth Advisory Council, an anti-drug campaign involving 31st District youth

Web site: www.dan-roach.com

Karen Willard
Party: Democrat

Personal: Age 56, married, two children

Education: Bachelor's degree in communication disorders, Loma Linda University, Riverside, Calif.; master's degree in audiology, Colorado State University

Experience: Owner, WeelyrdPublishing, and co-founder of a nonprofit, Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singers; secretary and Webmaster for the 31st District Democrats; precinct-committee officer; Pierce County poll worker; church volunteer for the Seventh-day Adventists

Web site: www.electkarenwillard.com

State House, 31st District, Position 2

Chris Hurst
Party: Democrat

Personal: Age 51, married, two children

Education: Associate's degree in aviation from Green River Community College

Experience: Retired law-enforcement officer, working mostly in Black Diamond and Tukwila, last duty was commander of 15-city violent-crimes task force; two-term state representative, 1998-2002; previously owned a small forest-products business; member of National Association of Flight Instructors

Web site: www.christopherhurst.org

Jan Shabro
Party: Republican

Personal: Age 66, married, four children

Education: Bachelor's degree in education, master's degree in special education and educational administration from Pacific Lutheran University

Experience: Special-education teacher in the Tacoma School District; two-term Pierce County Council member; founder and member, Lake Tapps Task Force; past president, Economic Development Corporation for Pierce County; past chairwoman, Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health

Web site: www.janshabro.org

The 31st District stretches from South King County into northeast Pierce County, including Auburn, Bonney Lake, Buckley, Edgewood, Enumclaw and Lake Tapps.

A longtime community activist, Ward, 43, represented a group fighting to keep sex-offender housing out of the Auburn area. She also is representing a citizens group in the Sumner and Bonney Lake area that is trying to stop the placement of a chemical-tank farm in a residential neighborhood.

Her other priorities include securing tax relief for seniors and working families and re-examining the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, which, beginning with the class of 2008, will be a graduation requirement. The past chairwoman of the state Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, Ward described the test as a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't measure the achievement of all students.

Her opponent is Pam Roach, 58, a four-term incumbent who led the fight last spring against a local measure to expand a hospital taxing district. In recent years, Roach was the longtime aide to conservative Metropolitan King County Councilman Kent Pullen, who died in 2003.

In the Legislature, Roach has pushed high-profile bills — one on bestiality, which passed last session, and another, on parental monitoring of kids' phone conversations, which failed in 2005. She also tried last year to exempt veterans' widows from paying property taxes. Her goal is to reinstate the property-tax cap at 1 percent statewide.

"We haven't always been successful, but we press on," she said.

Roach, whose contributors include health insurers, drug and petroleum companies, cuts a controversial figure in the Capitol; critics say she's volatile, and some past colleagues have accused her of creating a hostile work environment. Roach put any criticism down to politically motivated attacks.

Looking ahead, she named public safety a top priority, saying she has worked hard to keep violent sex offenders out of the area. Other priorities include bringing a park to a several-hundred-acre parcel in southeast Auburn and phasing in more foreign-language instruction at the elementary level to help children become more competitive in the global market.

Roach vs. Willard

Roach's son, Dan, is a three-term state representative in the same district. Karen Willard, owner of a music-related publishing company and a Democratic activist, decided to run against him for a simple reason.

"I got tired of standing on the sidelines, jumping up and down," said Willard, 56. "I decided to see if I could make a difference."

Willard is frustrated that, as a small-business owner, she can't afford to buy health insurance. She supports legislative efforts that will make it easier for small businesses to get access to health care.

"Smart growth" is also a top priority for Willard. She sees nothing but "wall-to-wall houses" in unincorporated Pierce County, where she lives. She thinks developers should pay more of the costs that come with new housing, including wear and tear on schools and roads.

For his part, Dan Roach said his first priority, if re-elected, would be to tackle the funeral-protest bill again. The bill would make it illegal for protesters of the Iraq War, for example, to disrupt a soldier's funeral.

"It would at least give these people a basic human right to mourn their loved ones," said Roach, 33.

Roach, the owner of Roach Gymnastics, said he would also continue his work on protecting citizens from identity theft and strengthening property rights. Other priorities include opposing a state income tax and pushing for a state spending limit.

Hurst vs. Shabro

Transportation and education are the main issues in the race for the second House seat in the 31st.

Democrat Chris Hurst, who earlier served two terms in the House, is challenging Republican incumbent Jan Shabro.

A longtime police detective, Hurst worked as a legislator on the patient bill of rights and was a member of the commission that developed tougher sentencing guidelines for violent and sex offenders. He chose not to run again after his second term to spend more time with his daughter during her high-school years.

Hurst, 51, is running this time on a range of issues, from reform of the juvenile-justice system, to full funding for the voter-approved initiative that would raise teacher pay, to the need to curb urban sprawl. He also wants to start what he calls an open, honest discussion on illegal immigration.

"The more we ignore it, the worse it's going to get," he said.

Shabro, a former Pierce County Council member, has focused her two terms on transportation, describing it as the top concern of her constituents. Most recently, she pushed for a pilot program that will bring HOT (high-occupancy toll) or express toll lanes to the congested Highway 167 in 2008.

A former teacher, Shabro pushed in Olympia to create the state's new Department of Early Learning. Many, including business leaders, are beginning to see the importance of early education, she said; studies show children develop quickest in their younger years.

"It's an investment," said Shabro, 66. "They realize a work force begins far before you get to school."

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com