This piece originally appeared in The Seattle Times on Oct. 30, 1996

Times endorsements for state House and Senate races in three districts in Snohomish County.

Tinkering with the state Growth Management Act is the talking point for legislative candidates this election, even for those who really want to repeal it. To do the job right, state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen of Camano Island has to be in the middle of the discussion.

As a leader on local government issues, Democrat Haugen will be able to tinker with the law without undermining its intentions. The 10th District crosses Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties, and every school district is building. Growth hit this area full bore, and planning for the future is essential. Haugen fended off property-rights legislation and led on regulatory reform.

Her Republican opponent is Jim Youngsman, a successful nursery operator in Mount Vernon. Youngsman was elected in 1988 to one term in the House. He faults Haugen's stand on property rights, but the voters were with her.

In House Position 1, Democrat Dave Anderson of South Whidbey Island is endorsed to unseat first-term Republican Barney Beeksma, a banker in Oak Harbor. Anderson, a former veterinarian, runs a golf course on family property and was a gill-netter for years. His small-business experience and strong environmental ethic fits the district better than Beeksma's blend of religion and conservative politics.

Incumbent Republican Barry Sehlin is a first-rate legislator and the easy endorsement in House Position 2. The former base commander of the Whidbey NAS does the Legislature's heavy lifting as chair of the House Capital Budget Committee. Democrat Glen Johnson is an environmentally oriented truck farmer who said he can think of no reason Sehlin should not be re-elected.

39th District

Second chances is the theme of endorsements in the two House races in the 39th District, which covers most of eastern Snohomish County and the Skykomish area of northeast King County.

Two years ago, Democrat Hans Dunshee lost his first-term House seat to Republican John Koster in the GOP tide. In the Position 1 race, Dunshee is endorsed over Arlington truck driver Keith Groen, a Republican Party activist. Groen is weak on campaign reform, education and land-use planning. Dunshee was a strong legislator with leadership potential who got caught cross-wise with a conservative, Christian sweep of the district.

Position 2 incumbent Republican John Koster is endorsed for a second term, but he has a good young opponent in Snohomish Mayor Jeff Soth. Koster, an Arlington dairy farmer, was a disappointment in Olympia, but the hope is he will blossom during a second term. Democrat Soth needs more seasoning as mayor, but his practical experience in local government with the Growth Management Act and a variety of state policy mandates would be a healthy addition to the Legislature. Soth should be looking over Koster's shoulder the next two years.

Val Stevens gave up her House seat to run for the state Senate seat that opened up when Kevin Quigley ran for Congress. She has been a lackluster legislator, consistently rated as a weak performer, but her conservative, religion-based views have found a home in the district. Stevens will not provide any constructive help in revamping state Child Protective Services and related children's issues in the Department of Social and Health Services. Democrat Patricia Patterson of Smokey Point is an excellent candidate with a bigger world view of how her service in the Legislature can benefit not only her district, but also the state. Patterson is a public-affairs consultant who formerly worked for the marine spill response company formed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

44th District

Republican Dave Schmidt is endorsed for re-election in the booming suburban 44th District, which includes south Snohomish County north of Bothell, including Lynnwood, Mill Creek and Everett suburbs.

Schmidt, who serves in House Position 1, is a personnel administrator for the National Guard and a former minister and field worker for the American Bible Society. His Democratic opponent is Kent Hanson, an appraisal supervisor for Snohomish County. Hanson, a serious, well-prepared candidate, said he is running for the Legislature to counter-balance the ultra-conservative, anti-people agenda of the Republicans.

Hanson's assessment of a narrow band of the GOP is on target, but Schmidt was able to successfully move away from a wing of his own party he considers too extreme. He has not been a big force in Olympia, but he was right on small measures, such as drafting legislation requiring paid signature-gatherers to disclose they are being paid and by whom at the top of each petition.

Schmidt has leadership ambitions that could make him a valuable link between the mainstream of the party caucus and the dozen or so disruptive, nonproductive members at the outer edge.

Incumbent Republican Bill Thompson, House Position 2, never did grasp the larger mission of the Legislature. Democrat Jerry Dickson has been a citizen activist in the midst of a variety of scraps on environmental and growth issues in his district, including a proposed toll road on state Highway 522. Dickson, retired from a real-estate business, has a breadth of education and work experience that makes him passionate about people and restrained in ideology.