From left: Renée Sunde, President/CEO, Senate Republican Leader John Braun (20th District), Rose Gundersen, VP of Operations, and Mark Johnson, Senior VP of Policy and Government Affairs.

WR Executive Team attended the joint Senate Republican Campaign Committee and House Republican Organization Committee candidate meet and greet and fundraiser on Tuesday.

The well-attended event featured 19 current and hopeful future legislators. Several speakers shared their plans to gain seats in their respective caucuses and defend existing seats, including Senate Republican Leader John Braun (20th District) and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox (2nd District.)

Many of the state’s races will be competitive this year. Senate candidate Bill Boyce, a Kent City Councilmember, is running in the 47th District open seat. Linda Kochmar, current Federal Way Council President and past State Representative, is seeking the 30th District Senate seat. Spencer Hutchins, a realtor, is working to retain the open House seat in the 26th District in Gig Harbor, vacated by State Representative Jesse Young, who is campaigning to be the Senator from the same district.

WR applauds and appreciates individuals willing to sacrifice time and resources from their families, careers, and personal life to seek a position of service in the Legislature. The WR team will report to the Retail Action Council Political Action Committee about our conversations and impressions of the candidates and their stances on retail industry issues, such as public safety and retail theft. Our PAC Board will then decide which candidates should be endorsed and receive PAC donations. If you are interested in donating to our PAC to support pro-retail candidates, please contact Mark Johnson, SVP of Policy and Government Affairs. And please exercise your right and responsibility to learn about the candidates and be sure and vote! General election mail-in ballots will be arriving in mid-October.