Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Al Merkel
Al Merkel (Republican Party) ran for election to the Washington State Senate to represent District 4. He lost in the primary on August 6, 2024.
Merkel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Al Merkel earned a bachelor's degree from Whitworth University in 2008. His career experience includes working as an operations director and as a contracts officer for the U.S. government.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Washington State Senate District 4
Leonard Christian defeated Miguel Valencia in the general election for Washington State Senate District 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Leonard Christian (R) | 64.3 | 53,660 |
 | Miguel Valencia (D)  | 35.5 | 29,666 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 131 | ||
| Total votes: 83,457 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Washington State Senate District 4
The following candidates ran in the primary for Washington State Senate District 4 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Miguel Valencia (D) | 22.1 | 9,146 |
| ✔ | | Leonard Christian (R) | 21.4 | 8,876 |
 | Mike Kelly (R) | 21.0 | 8,673 | |
| Pam Haley (R) | 12.8 | 5,306 | ||
 | Al Merkel (R) | 12.0 | 4,948 | |
| Paige Scott (D) | 10.6 | 4,378 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 54 | ||
| Total votes: 41,381 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Merkel in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Al Merkel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Merkel's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Commitment to Low Taxation. Merkel's campaign is firmly rooted in the principle of low taxation, recognizing that excessive tax burdens stifle economic growth and strain household budgets. As a Spokane Valley Councilman, he is the only councilman and candidate to vote to reduce taxes championing initiatives such as the reduction of the $20 license tab fee and the excess stormwater tax, demonstrating his dedication to reducing unnecessary fiscal pressures on citizens. Albert’s legislative agenda is designed to continue these efforts at the state level, ensuring that Washington residents keep more of their hard-earned money. His approach is focused on streamlining state spending and maximizing efficiency within government opera
- Commitment to Helping Washington Businesses Thrive. Al is committed to creating a business-friendly environment that supports the growth and sustainability of Washington businesses. His professional experience in negotiating contracts and managing successful business ventures, including securing a substantial SBA loan to launch a thriving local business, has equipped him with the insights necessary to understand the challenges faced by business owners. Albert advocates for common-sense regulatory reforms that reduce bureaucratic red tape and foster an environment where businesses can innovate and expand. His vision includes leveraging Washington’s unique economic assets to attract investment and promote competitive practices tha
- Commitment to Local Control in Education and Governance. Al is deeply committed to enhancing local control in education and governance, ensuring that decisions impacting communities are made by those who understand them best. Drawing from his extensive experience as an emergency substitute teacher and a city councilman, Al recognizes the critical need for school districts and local governments to have the autonomy. His legislative priorities include removing unfunded mandates and advocating for policies that allow for tailored educational programs and local governance strategies. This commitment is about empowering local officials and educators to make decisions that best serve their communities.
2. Understanding and advocacy for constituent issues for those we represent
3. Common sense principles
4. Ability to negotiate
5. Historical knowledge.
2. Ensure that taxes are as low as possible allowing the people to use as much as they can for their own lives
3. Ensure regulations and restrictions are as simple and least restrictive as possible allowing maximum freedom and liberty to the people.
4. Minimizing the impact of government on people's lives (paperwork reduction, simple laws etc.)
5. Devolve decision making as much as possible to the lowest elected magistrate ensuring as much local control in decision making as possible.
6. fulfill the basic duties of government: public safety, freedom of commerce, and other constitutional guarantees
Neither branch should be superior to the other, the governor should ensure compliance with both the letter of the budget and the spirit of the budget approved by the legislature.
"Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech" Benjamin Franklin
2. Early Learning and K-12 Education
3. Local Government, Land Use, and Tribal Affairs
any government office having impact on the lives of the governed should be directly accountable to citizens through election or indirectly accountable through appointed leadership that is directly accountable to elected officials.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Washington State Senate District 4 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 2, 2024
