Andre Stackhouse

Andre Stackhouse (Green Party) ran for election for Governor of Washington. He lost in the primary on August 6, 2024.

Stackhouse completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Andre Stackhouse was born in Washington. He graduated from Inglemoor High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2014. His career experience includes working as a software engineer, political organizer, nonprofit executive director, and journalist. He has been affiliated with Whole Washington.^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Governor of Washington

Bob Ferguson defeated Dave Reichert in the general election for Governor of Washington on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Bob Ferguson (D)	55.5	2,143,368
	Dave Reichert (R)	44.3	1,709,818
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	8,202

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,861,388
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Washington

The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of Washington on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bob Ferguson (D)	44.9	884,268
✔		Dave Reichert (R)	27.5	541,533
		Semi Bird (R)	10.8	212,692
		Mark Mullet (D)	6.0	119,048
		Leon Lawson (Trump Republican Party)	1.8	35,971
	Submit photo	Jim Daniel (R)	1.5	29,907
	Submit photo	Cassondra Hanson (D)	1.2	24,512
		EL'ona Kearney (D)	1.2	24,374
		Jennifer Hoover (R)	0.8	15,692
		Andre Stackhouse (G)	0.6	11,962
		Don Rivers (D)	0.5	9,453
	Submit photo	Martin Wheeler (R)	0.4	7,676
		Chaytan Inman (D)	0.3	6,427
		Ricky Anthony (D)	0.3	6,226
	Submit photo	Jeff Curry (Independent Party)	0.3	6,068
		Fred Grant (D)	0.3	5,503
		Brian Bogen (No party preference)	0.2	4,530
		A.L. Brown (R)	0.2	4,232
		Michael DePaula (L)	0.2	3,957
		Rosetta Marshall-Williams (Independence Party)	0.2	2,960
		Jim Clark (No party preference)	0.1	2,355
	Submit photo	Edward Cale (D)	0.1	1,975
		Alex Tsimerman (Standup-America Party)	0.1	1,721
		Bill Hirt (R)	0.1	1,720
	Submit photo	Frank Dare (Independent Party)	0.1	1,115
		Alan Makayev (Nonsense Busters Party)	0.1	1,106
		William Combs (Independent Party)	0.1	1,042
	Submit photo	Brad Mjelde (No party preference)	0.1	991
		Ambra Mason (Constitution Party) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Bobbie Samons (No party preference) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,347

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,970,363
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Stackhouse's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Stackhouse in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released June 21, 2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Andre Stackhouse completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Stackhouse's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a lifelong Washingtonian, a software engineer, and political organizer unsatisfied with the leadership of our state and nation. I graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics: Human-Computer Interaction. I went on to work up and down Washington's tech industry from the scrappy Code.org to the multinational Microsoft.

After watching the election of Donald Trump, living through COVID, and a lifetime of economic recession, inflation, and stagnation - I came to realize that our political system would not rise to address the needs of our time unless ordinary people like myself were ready to care enough about their community to become an active participant in it.

I left Microsoft to become a political organizer and focused primarily on the issue of universal public healthcare. I began volunteering with the nonprofit Whole Washington working to pass statewide single payer healthcare in Washington via both legislation and ballot initiative. I continue to push for this in my current position as executive director.

I am running to lead by my example, to put the world I want to see on the ballot in Washington, and to give voters a true political alternative.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Washington is too expensive and quickly becoming completely unaffordable. Even as inflation on the dollar slows, the prices of housing, healthcare, education, transportation, food, and more continues to spiral out of control. Washington needs an economic policy that addresses and reverses this crisis - in one of the wealthiest states of one of the wealthiest nations of the world, nobody should be unable to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, and their prescriptions filled. Ensuring that these basic needs are met for all of our state's people is a core responsibility of government, one that is not currently being fulfilled.
Washington belongs to its people, not the wealthy, not a political class, not corporations. This must apply both to our political system and our economy. Democratic control of both our political and economic systems must be expanded.
Our political democracy can be expanded in a number of ways including preferential voting systems (like ranked-choice voting or STAR), public campaign finance, and strengthening our citizen-initiated ballot measure process.
Our economy can be democratized through the introduction and expansion of public institutions and universal services. For instance a public bank can help incentivize worker-owned cooperatives and housing co-ops while universal healthcare works to decommodify healthcare.
It's time for a politics of the visionary and possible - it's time to end the politics of low expectations. Washington state has a higher GDP per capita than some of the wealthiest nations of the world like Norway and Sweden. We are home to 13 billionaires, leading industries, and top research institutions. There is really nothing we couldn't achieve with public support and competent leadership. We can and should develop nation-scale infrastructure at home, whether or not we receive federal funding. Let us build the Nation of Washington in our public bank, our universal healthcare system, our free public universities, and other freedoms that we enjoy here that are the envy of the rest of the country and world.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Universal healthcare, universal basic income, a guarantee to housing, tuition-free higher education, a true living wage, ranked-choice voting, multiparty democracy, proportional representation, campaign finance reform, public banking, fare-free public transit,

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to Ralph Nader and wish to follow his example. I respect his citizen-driven approach to politics and his focus on public safety and consumer protection. I believe he was a deeply serious policy thinker with a disciplined evidence-based approach to his work. And I think he was incredibly successful and was able to exercise significant political impact outside of elected office, while also using his candidacy for office as a powerful political message.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

The Shock Doctrine (book/documentary), An Unreasonable Man (documentary), Doughnut Economics (book)

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials are first and foremost representatives of their constituents - as a public figure one of the most important principles an elected official must understand is that they must represent the public interest over their personal interest, while also maintaining that they are not a passive entity in the process.

Elected officials are elected to represent a constituency but they are also elected to do a job and provide leadership such that they may surpass the attention, expertise, and judgement most members of the public are able or willing to put into society's issues. In this way, they are supposed to combine the best of the public they represent and what they have to offer as an individual elected to lead.

Doing this is incredibly challenging and requires the synthesis of many skills, characteristics, and principles key among them integrity - the ability to act in the public interest over personal interest, respect for government - those who don't should not presume to govern, empathy - essential to the understanding of the many needs of the public, and last a love for people, planet, and collective prosperity.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I believe I synthesize an unusual blend of skills that makes me uniquely effective at civic endeavors. I believe I am able to bridge the divide that often exists between movement leaders, policy developers, and political officeholders through my communication skills. I believe that my ability to approach problems from many different angles allows me to craft more thorough and creative solutions.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The first core responsibility of the Governor is to represent the entire state and all its people regardless of who voted them into office. A deep understanding of the state and its people must be instilled into the Governor's agenda, political appointments, staffing decisions, and the entire administration.

The Governor is the chief executive of the state of Washington elected by a statewide majority and therefore has a mandate with which to set broad vision for the state government including policy goals as well as regulatory standards through agencies and administrative and executive policy regarding how the Governor intends to execute the laws of the land.

The Governor is a public servant and must maintain a high degree of accessibility and transparency to public both directly and through the press. The Governor must listen to the needs of constituents and be responsive to them. Especially in times of emergency and crisis the Governor may need to take executive action in order to quickly resolve issues before they get worse and keep the people of Washington safe.

However, the Governor must also recognize that they do not lead alone and must govern with the consent and participation of the public via both direct citizen participation and through the elected legislature. A Governor must build coalition, partnership, and solidarity with the public, the legislature, the federal government, and the courts in order to design and implement real solutions that will stand the test of time and continue to deliver to the people.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be remembered for creating a grand vision of the future that inspires the actions large and small from many for years to come.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember the WTO protests of 1999 - I was eight years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at my college paper first as a writer and later as an editor. I worked there for three years.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I sometimes don't know when to let go of a goal or project

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean do you?

Ultimately the Governor should feel responsible for the outcomes of state Government and should use executive authority to fulfill the state's duty to its people as articulated in the state constitution to the best of his or her ability. Governors always operate under constraints but ultimately must see their duty as protecting the life, safety, and wellbeing of all the people of their state.

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

Addressing the affordability crisis in Washington by ensuring guarantees to affordable housing, healthcare, education, and transportation for all Washingtonians regardless of their ability to pay.

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

The Governor and legislature should set the budget together ideally by the Governor setting the state's budget and the legislature specifying how to structure taxes such that that budget may be raised and maintained.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

A line item veto should be used primarily to remove special interest kickbacks and poison pills from otherwise good legislation. While this would hopefully not be necessary often, it really comes down to the quality of the legislature and the legislation they push to the Governor's desk.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The Governor and state legislature will both be most successful with a collaborative relationship built around clearly stated shared goals which advance the public interest. In an ideal relationship both branches are operating within the law, the public interest, and the best information available. In a less ideal circumstance they may be required to check one another's power.

What do you love most about your state?

I love Washington's ingenuity, independence, and the compassion of our people. We are a great state, a beautiful state, and a state which leads best through its example. I am proud of how many critical issues Washington has been an early leader on including cannabis legalization and marriage equality. I truly believe that we can build the world we wish to live in today in Washington.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Washington will need to find a way to overcome the shortcomings of our federal government. From healthcare, to pandemic response, to economic policy, to environmental stewardship - we simply cannot wait and expect that the feds are going to deliver solutions to these problems. We need to be the architects of solutions to these issues and we need to be prepared for the next crisis. I believe in many ways this will look like Washington taking steps to become more like an independent nation, though I believe we can do this while remaining a member of the United States, but it will challenge us to continue forward while much of the nation goes back.

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

If the emergency powers can reasonably be expected to protect the safety, wellbeing, and life of a significant number of Washingtonians. Emergency powers are by definition temporary and even if an emergency persists, over time the emergency must be transitioned into a daily state of affairs with an updated set of policies for managing.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Green Party of Washington, Green Party of Seattle, South Sound Green Party

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Public institutions and public servants should be honored to be held to the highest standards of accountability and financial transparency. Serving the public is to be expected to serve public interests and to demonstrate that through the ongoing refusal of all conflicts of interest whether actual or perceived. This is the only way there can be a foundation of trust between government and the public.

Do you support or oppose changes to the current state ballot initiative process? If so, what kind of changes would you consider?

Yes - ballot initiatives in Washington need to be expanded and citizens empowered to be more active in this process. There are a number of ways to do so. First, the initiative process must be given all the same legislative powers as our elected legislature holds including the ability to amend our state constitution.

Second, there should be public financing for initiative campaigns making it affordable for organic grassroots movements to get their proposals on the ballot and voted into law without having to raise millions of dollars to do so.

Third, initiative campaigns should be able to gather signatures digitally. Voter registration is done digitally so there is really no reason a signature couldn't be validated digitally. This would make it much easier for people to sign initiatives and make it much easier for initiative campaigns to successfully collect the signatures and public support needed to reach the ballot. The signature threshold may be reconsidered with the addition of digital gathering, but it should not be prohibitively high either.

Last, protections should be put into the process to ensure that initiative campaigns are of high quality and not open to abuse through astroturf and political spending. Initiatives should reflect organic grassroots efforts and not be trivial for the wealthy to pay for the necessary signature gathering to reach the ballot without building real support.

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.

Andre Stackhouse campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Governor of Washington	Lost primary	$2,887	$2,611
Grand total			$2,887	$2,611
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2024

[1]

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Andre Stackhouse

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Governor of Washington

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Washington

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

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Public Policy

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