Ed Minger

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Ed Minger

Independent

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 4, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Central Washington University

Personal

Birthplace

Redmond, Wash.

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Ed Minger (independent) ran for election for Washington Secretary of State. He lost in the primary on August 4, 2020.

Minger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Minger was born in Redmond, Washington. He attended Big Bend Community College and earned his bachelor's degree from Central Washington University. His career experience includes working as a social studies, history, and communications teacher at Fife, as an operations manager and stormwater technician at Lean Environment Inc. in Tacoma, as a K-12 teacher at Cle Elum, for America Reads/America Counts in Ellensburg, as the Trio Upward Bound hall director and resident advisor in Moses Lake, and in the shipping department of Shoemaker Manufacturing in Cle Elum. He also shares a patent for Electro-chemical Water Treatment Technology.

Organizations

As of his 2020 campaign, Minger was affiliated with the following organizations:

• Lions Club - Leo Club Advisor at Columbia Junior High School

Awards

• Top 10 Student-Teacher of the Year, 2010
• History Student of the Year, 2008

Elections

2020

See also: Washington Secretary of State election, 2020

General election

General election for Washington Secretary of State

Incumbent Kim Wyman defeated Gael Tarleton in the general election for Washington Secretary of State on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim Wyman (R)	53.6	2,116,141
		Gael Tarleton (D)	46.3	1,826,710
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	4,666

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,947,517
= 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.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Washington Secretary of State

Incumbent Kim Wyman and Gael Tarleton defeated Ed Minger and Gentry Lange in the primary for Washington Secretary of State on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim Wyman (R)	50.9	1,238,455
✔		Gael Tarleton (D)	43.3	1,053,584
		Ed Minger (Independent)	3.6	87,982
	Submit photo	Gentry Lange (Progressive Party of Washington State)	2.1	51,826
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,919

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,433,766
= 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 themes

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released May 25, 2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ed Minger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Minger'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.

Ed Minger is the first college graduate in his family, graduating Magna Cum Laude as a Top Ten Student-Teacher of the year from CWU in 2010.

Graduating during a recession and relying on family and a little luck he gradually became Operations Manager and co-patent holder working with an Industrial Stormwater Treatment Startup. As a social studies teacher in Fife, Washington he balances the positives and negatives in US History and World Studies with a consistent focus on reminding and encouraging students to realize - this is their country - this is their world.

Ed Minger eagerly took on the role of Leo Club advisor, and has facilitated thousands of volunteer hours for students. In his short biography, available through edminger.com, he states

"I've seen the very best of our society in this state, in this club, in teaching, in helping care for the environment, and in meeting with businesses interested in contributing to the common good....Without blaming people, parties, or even special interests, my proposals aim to address (political) games. Let's change some of the rules of elections, and let our government officials reflect the best of us - the people."

Ed Minger for Secretary of State refuses to pay for access to voters' eyes, ears, or minds - hopefully this empowers you to continue what you're doing on Ballotpedia - learn about the candidates, understand the implications of their proposals, make a decision, and use your voice to engage other voters.

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?

• Guiding Principle: I don't blame any person, party, or even special interest group for the problems with government dysfunction. (Therefore, I'm running as an independent)
• General Goals: If we correct the games that people, parties, and special interests feel they have to play in order to have input into government, then we can make representative government more representative. The folks that currently have to play those games will not "lose a seat at the table," - they'll earn it.
• Setting the example: I refuse to purchase advertising, by doing so I intend to save significant amounts of your money to get elected. Whether you "officially" endorse or vote for me, I would still love to talk with you about issues that matter to you, your community, or your organization.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Election reform is the only way for us to allow our government officials to be fair-minded mediators for all of us.

Creating exciting opportunities for citizens to engage with government outside of election season.

Creating bridges between people, nonprofits, businesses, and government to help channel an"all in this together" environment. This "All In" position is the only place from which we can return to normal in a unified, collaborative, and "better-than-normal" way.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The people are the foundation of the United States. However, for too long, the games that we force people, parties, and special interests to play in order to have a seat at the table has been destructive to our form of representative government. The Secretary of State's office can implement exciting changes to create more respect and cooperation between all the stakeholders and citizens in Washington. Beyond this, the Secretary of State also has a unique place as the registrar for corporations and non-profit organizations. This places the Secretary of State's office in an important role as we rebound from the COVID-19 challenge . The Secretary of State can and should look at ways to facilitate an "all hands on deck" recovery.

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

As a teacher I admire my students, staff, and administrators. Students because they have enviable and unique skills, and a desire to improve even more. Given some decent guidance and the freedom to create, invent, and collaborate young people can often compete with many teams of adults... and generally with a very inclusive and optimistic attitude.

I admire my coworkers in all parts of our school district for their flexibility, adaptability, optimism, and the support they offer one another. They celebrate the good days together, they support each other on the tough days, and they show up to each day's adventure with optimism and passion.

The administrators of public schools have many people to please: state mandates, staff members, parents, students, and communities-at-large. From budgets to safety, from curriculum to student access to essentials - this is a broad job, and no enviable task. However, with poise and competence I've seen both a great balance of these interests and a consistent drive to do better for all stakeholders in the school community.

I've been fortunate to experience the best society has to offer regardless of age or title during my life in Washington State - and I hope to facilitate an election system which lets our elected officials and candidates reflect the best of us.

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

I reserve the right to change my mind based on new information. I am willing to lead by example in my own campaign to alter how other campaigns operate. I do not expect to come in and "run everything" in the Secretary of State's office on the first day. There are many state officials that I will be learning from, and I am excited to do so. I am excited to try new things, fairly assess the outcome, and make revisions if we didn't get the desired results. I cannot tell anyone what the most important characteristics or principles are, that is for them to decide. I find it much easier to lay out what I am going to strive for, and then it is up for voters' to decide.

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

I have currently outsourced this question to everyone who knows me - I have made survey on a google form available for anyone who has met me to provide feedback however they see fit.

What legacy would you like to leave?

If I can win a statewide campaign in the 21st century without paying for advertising -as an independent centrist. If I then had the opportunity to help create an election system where people feel empowered not just on election day, but throughout the process of governing, this would be no small feat.

I have never yearned to be "the person" trying to make these changes, but election after election no candidates seem to be speaking to the fundamental importance of updating our election system. I hope that these changes are made, period, whether I have a hand in implementing them, or if government officials are influenced by what we're trying to do.

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

The WTO Riots in 1999 were the first major local event that made their way into my teenage bubble. The discord and divisiveness during the 2000 Presidential Election came next, and the tragic attack on 9/11 followed quickly thereafter. Even as a teenager it seemed as though division was stoked instead of alleviated in each event, and distrust and disagreement was amplified by seemingly all sides. I'm running as an independent because compromise, empathy, and respect should be encouraged, incentivized, and rewarded in our shared system. The Secretary of State's office manages the tools that can create unity out of misunderstandings, create a line-of-communication between the citizens and the government, and facilitate the mobilization of nonprofits and businesses in response to a challenge.

The foundations of these changes and improvements must come from an inclusive and exciting election process. It's our responsibility to create a better way to run elections. With better elections our elected officials won't let tensions rise like WTO 1999, they won't revert to confusion and finger-pointing as in the 2000 Election, and they'll be able to allow us to respond collaboratively to challenges - as we did in the weeks after 9/11. Fix the games of elections, and we will have a more representative government.

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

Aside from washing dishes at the Sunset Cafe in Cle Elum, Washington - my first job as an adult was working in the shipping department at Shoemaker Mfg. For nearly a year I worked, saved money, and tried to get "bulky" enough to pursue an unlikely career of becoming a professional wrestler. In studying the over-the-top career path of professional wrestling I learned how easily battles between "good guys" and "bad guys" can be blown out of proportion. As a first generation college student, graduating Magna Cum Laude, Top-10 Student-Teacher of the year, patent-holder for environmental technology, and having split my life and work evenly between Eastern and Western Washington - I've learned that pro wrestling is nothing like the real world, and nothing like the people of Washington - but it is all too similar to our politics.

What is your favorite book? Why?

There was a time in my life where I was either going to become a "reader" or I was going to start falling behind in that skill. Because of my personal interests in my teenage years I was so happy when I got the 550 page monster by Mick Foley "Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks" that book very likely helped me stay on par with my classmates.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

It would probably be different each day depending on what came to mind, but for today: Stanley Ipkiss from The Mask - from wikipedia: Carrey commented that he characterized Stanley after his own father: "a nice guy, just trying to get by". When Ipkiss puts on the Mask, he becomes a wacky, zoot-suited, suave cartoon figure with the superhuman ability to manipulate his own shape and the world around him.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Sunshine, by the Black Moods.

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

My personal struggles are small compared to many others, so I will not speak to those. I struggle with seeing so many people being led to focus on their differences. We need to learn from each others' struggles and challenges, we need to hear about how different communities feel about issues, and we need to help others. I struggle when people downplay the challenges of people that they have not been given an opportunity to get to know.

I've lived and worked in many communities where people can have respectful disagreements, but forge solutions anyway.
I struggle with the fact that our government doesn't reflect that.
We have been guaranteed a "republican" form of government - where people have the ultimate authority of the system.
I struggle because we have infinite technological resources which could help us interact with our government, but we aren't striving to utilize them.
I struggle because we have an election system which encourages folks to finance and support advertising for "friendly" politicians in order to have a seat at the table. Thus limiting elected officials' ability to compromise, to listen, to learn, to change their minds.

I struggle because everyone who participates in these games has been led to believe that this is the best way, or even the only way.

I struggle because I know we can do better, if we're willing... Let's fix elections - together.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Election buy-in and and voter-trust in government, are the foundation of a healthy republican form of government. I view election reform as a "prerequisite" to fixing other major issue that divide us.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Managing the state library would likely give access and ability for the Secretary of State to reach out to museums and libraries throughout the state. In times of trouble and stress and by highlighting the diverse communities, we could invite stories about how people in this land have persevered and risen to great challenges. These community-centered videos could be live-streamed weekly during this time, or after a negative press conference is held.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Experience is never a bad thing, but we've managed elections for 250 years in the United States. Since the explosion of media resources over the last 20 to 50 years we have a lot of different tools at our disposal, and other states, countries, and researchers have offered more inclusive voting options. If experience comes with innovating "within the box" that we're used to, then it can be a detriment to the significant update our election system needs.

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.

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