45th District Senate Race: Independent Parker Harris Announces Bid

WOODINVILLE, WA - The race for the pivotal 45th District state Senate seat got a little bigger this week. Local teacher and Woodinville resident Parker Harris will run for the seat as an independent. The 45th District race is important for Democrats because it presents an opportunity to flip control of the state Senate in the party's favor.

The field of candidates for the seat has been growing in recent weeks and now includes the Dino Rossi-endorsed Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund, the Democratic party-endorsed Manka Dhingra, Republican and former Northshore School District board member Ken Smith, and Democrat Ian S. Stratton.

The 45th District seat is up for grabs due to the death in late October of Andy Hill. Rossi was appointed to hold the seat until the November election.

But in announcing his bid for the seat, Harris says that running as an independent is best for the state to prevent further political division.

"If a Democrat or Republican wins, one party will have a slight majority, but it won't do anything to heal the deep political divide. One party with an advantage can pass legislation, but you can bet the minority party will put all their efforts into slowing the process down. When the senate inevitably changes hands, whatever progress may have been achieved is likely to be rolled back," he says on his campaign website.

Harris is a former engineer, but has worked as a teacher at Woodinville's The Attic Learning Community since 2014.

Harris expanded on his candidacy in a campaign video:

Image via Parker Harris