Maia Espinoza
Maia Espinoza (Republican Party) is running for election to the Washington State Senate to represent District 28. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. She advanced from the primary on August 6, 2024.
Espinoza completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Maia Espinoza was born on the Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. She earned a high school diploma from Clover Park High School, an associate degree from Pierce College in 2007, a bachelor's degree from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, and a graduate degree from Western Governors University in 2020. Her professional experience includes working as a business owner, school teacher, on the Opportunity Gap Oversight Committee of the OSPI Student Data Task Force, for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, as a German Marshall scholar, a youth soccer coach, and a school auction chair.[1][2]
Espinoza has been affiliated with Center for Latino Leadership, Washington Policy Center, Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Transatlantic Inclusionary Leaders Network, German Marshall Fund, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Board Member for Tacoma Arts Live, Coffee Oasis, Catholic Daughters Association of America, Military Order of the World Wars, the Civil Air Patrol, and the PLU Business Network Board.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Washington State Senate District 28
Incumbent T'wina Nobles and Maia Espinoza are running in the general election for Washington State Senate District 28 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | T'wina Nobles (D) | |
 | Maia Espinoza (R)  | |
| ||||
| = 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 28
Incumbent T'wina Nobles and Maia Espinoza advanced from the primary for Washington State Senate District 28 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | T'wina Nobles (D) | 53.7 | 8,839 |
| ✔ | | Maia Espinoza (R) | 46.0 | 7,572 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 34 | ||
| Total votes: 16,445 | |||
| = 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
To view Espinoza's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2020
General election
General election for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Chris Reykdal defeated Maia Espinoza in the general election for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris Reykdal (Nonpartisan) | 54.6 | 1,955,365 |
| Maia Espinoza (Nonpartisan) | 44.9 | 1,609,643 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 17,957 | ||
| Total votes: 3,582,965 | |||
| = 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 Superintendent of Public Instruction
The following candidates ran in the primary for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Reykdal (Nonpartisan) | 40.2 | 898,951 |
| ✔ | | Maia Espinoza (Nonpartisan) | 25.3 | 564,674 |
 | Ron Higgins (Nonpartisan) | 20.5 | 456,879 | |
 | Dennis Wick (Nonpartisan) | 5.4 | 121,425 | |
 | David Spring (Nonpartisan) | 5.0 | 111,176 | |
 | Stan Lippmann (Nonpartisan) | 3.2 | 71,395 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 9,571 | ||
| Total votes: 2,234,071 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2018
See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Washington House of Representatives District 28-Position 2
Incumbent Christine Kilduff defeated Maia Espinoza in the general election for Washington House of Representatives District 28-Position 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Christine Kilduff (D) | 57.5 | 29,955 |
| Maia Espinoza (R) | 42.5 | 22,162 | |
| Total votes: 52,117 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 28-Position 2
Incumbent Christine Kilduff and Maia Espinoza advanced from the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 28-Position 2 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Christine Kilduff (D) | 58.6 | 17,253 |
| ✔ | | Maia Espinoza (R) | 41.4 | 12,174 |
| Total votes: 29,427 | |||
| = 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
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Maia Espinoza completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Espinoza's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Maia is a mom of four, nonprofit director, self-proclaimed momtrepreneur, community liaison, and a wife. She served on the Race and Ethnicity Student Data task force at OSPI as part of the Opportunity Gap Oversight Committee and was the Legislative Liaison to the Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs, as well a member of the Catholic Daughters Association, Military Order of the World Wars, Tacoma Arts Live, and previously served as an Honorary Base Commander at JBLM. She is also the Executive Director of the Center for Latino Leadership, a civic-education-oriented non-profit based in Washington State.
Born on an Air Force Base, Maia grew up in a military family as the oldest of five siblings and has lived all over the United States, attending more than a dozen public schools. Her mother is a retired combat veteran, and her father serves in the Army National Guard. Maia was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol and a distinguished member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. Maia continues her commitment to military members and their families.
Maia attended Clover Park High School and was a Running Start graduate from Pierce College at 17 years old. Maia became a single mother while in college but completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University by age 20 with her daughter by her side. She later earned a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University.
- Crime has gone unchecked, destroying lives and causing unclean, unsafe neighborhoods. Current policies have made a big problem worse. Community safety and crime prevention should be our focus. We need police to do their jobs and courts to uphold the law!
- Cost of living has skyrocketed. Housing, gas, groceries... Washington is one of the only states that hasn't offered a form of tax relief to its residents. Meanwhile, our state budget is at an all-time high, revenue (from us) is through the roof. Join Maia in telling Olympia politicians: Enough!
- Kids are our greatest asset, but they're attacked by information warfare and social pressures. Parents know and want what’s best for their children. Universal school choice will unshackle parents, raise the bar for schools, and give teachers more choices. Let’s improve education outcomes for ALL.
Look around, communities are struggling. Cost of living is through the roof while our streets are unsafe and public spaces are overrun with encampments, garbage, vandalism, and drugs.
We've let our state legislature go largely unchecked for the last 6 years and despite billions in surplus tax revenue, affordable groceries, safe neighborhoods, a good education, and opportunities to thrive are scarce. We could cut prices on gas and groceries, enforce our laws, make housing more affordable, expand mental health services, crack down on fentanyl and I am running to see that it happens. It’s time for change.
Transparency and honesty are vital for public service. Our representatives should strive to represent their constituents above all!
My experience building alliances to achieve common goals in Olympia allows me to work across party divides to help the people of Washington who have been hit hardest in recent years and I believe the perspective I bring as a small business owner, community advocate, parent, and teacher needs to be better represented in our state capitol.
The primary duty of a State Senator is to represent and advocate for their district. This involves developing solutions to critical issues facing their communities, forming coalitions and strategic partnerships, and influencing statewide policy to benefit all of Washington. These should be among the top responsibilities and priorities of a State Senator.
Education has been one of the most important struggles in my life. I became a mother at 19 when I was in college. While I debated quitting school to provide for my daughter, I received life-changing advice from a mentor. She advised me to continue my education FOR my daughter, that finishing my degree would allow me to provide for her long-term, and most importantly, that no one can take your education for you, it's worth the short-term struggle. I have her to thank for my growing family, successful career, and subsequent education.
The ideal relationship between the governor and legislature should be one of collaboration and respect. The governor should set priorities for Washington and work with the legislature to accomplish these priorities and goals. However, our current one-party system has no checks and balances. Combine this with a legislature that is often beholden to special interest and we'll see our current predicament: increasing cost of living, unsafe neighborhoods, and communities struggling to thrive.
There's no doubt the cost of housing, groceries, and everything is out of control. Providing cost relief and managing ongoing inflation will be a challenge over the next few years, but it is doable. However, our current representatives fail to take action! Washington State is also dealing with a serious and nationally recognized drug, mental health, and homelessness crisis. I fear we will be recovering from this for a long time. We have little mental health and drug treatment infrastructure which takes time and commitment to build.
No! Too many of our current representatives are career politicians with deep roots in special interests.
Elect people not politicians!
Of course! Nothing happens alone in the legislature. Any legislation takes a majority (or more) to pass. By building relationships with other legislators you can pass meaningful legislation that affects the everyday lives of your constituents.
Maybe. Right now I'm running to represent my community in the 28th Legislative District and that will always take precedence. If there is a need elsewhere I will happily go where I am needed.
Absolutely! Emergency powers were recently brought to the forefront in a statewide conversation during the Covid pandemic of 2020. Governor Jay Inslee held emergency powers for 975 days. This means no oversight from the legislature. To put a finer point on it, this means 975 days that ONE person commandeered massive control over Washington state. No democracy should operate this way. The people have the right to be represented fully by their elected officials. Furthermore, a democracy only thrives when there are checks and balances in place, a lack of legislative oversight on emergency powers forfeits a vital part of our system of government.
Local 612 - Engineers & Operators
Association of Washington Business
Kevin Ballard - Dupont City Council
Rep. April Connors
Rep. Jim McCune
Sen. Steve O'Ban (ret.)
Lakewood Mayor Jason Whalen
Rep. Michelle Caldier
Sen. Chris Gildon
Sen. John Braun
Michael Baumgartner
U.P. Mayor Javier Figueroa
Janis Meneatrice Clark
Mark Melsness - Tacoma-Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium
County Councilmember Paul Herrera
Councilmember Caroline Belleci
Sen. Ann Rivers
Sen. Judy Warnick
Keith Waggoner
Sen. Mike Padden
Sen. Mark Schoesler
Sen. Nikki Torres
Sen. Phil Fortunato
Sen. Brad Hawkins
Sen. Ron Muzzall
Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen
General Stan Flemming
General Doug Richardson
Myung Park
Kory Hahn
Sam Sim
While I will happily serve where I am asked I a especially interested in serving on the following committees: Early Learning & K-12 Education, Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Housing committees.
It is vital we know who is funding our representatives! Furthermore if we are to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people governmental institutions should be accountable to the people. Financial transparency in government spending, vote rollcalls and allocation of resources is of critical importance. Thanks to a convoluted system of bureaucracy and agencies, identifying budget line items in Washington is nearly impossible. We have record state revenue but can't see where it's going. I will push for increased financial transparency so we know where our tax dollars are going.
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.
2020
Maia Espinoza completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Espinoza's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm a business owner, teacher, youth soccer coach, wife, and mother of two school-age children. I also direct the Center for Latino Leadership, a civic engagement, education-based nonprofit. I'm a German Marshall Scholar, and the first Washingtonian recruited for a global education forum. As Legislative Liaison to the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, I championed a policy that incentivizes bilingual students to become teachers in their communities. I've also served on various educational task forces and continue to work to address disparities in education and public works.
- Stop Forced Sex Ed - The recently passed sex education policy takes away local control and exposes our children to inappropriate material like teaching 4th graders about sexual positions and teacher-led role play. Parents and local schools know what's best for their communities. As Superintendent, my top priority will be ensuring the social and emotional safety of Washington's children.
- School That Works - Let's face it, the modern economy calls for a modern school system. The existing model hasn't had a system update since the Industrial Era! In today's society and in our region, both parents-if you're lucky enough to have two parents-work. Teachers are tasked with compounding new requirements while still instructing classrooms of 15-30 students who are distracted now more than ever before. We need a school system refresh and that requires innovation, big ideas, and political courage.
- Essential Skills - We are constantly bombarded with new and conflicting information, yet a majority of students and adults alike can't separate fact from opinion. Learning this essential skill promotes mutual respect and allows for civil discourse inside and outside of the classroom. "This would have been nice to learn in school" is an all too familiar cry. Financial literacy, independent living, healthy relationship tools as well as self-promotion techniques like entrepreneurship and negotiation are just a few more essential skills we should ensure each student receives.
Our schools are facing a defining moment. Teachers aren't happy, families are stressed, students are struggling, and the opportunity gap is widening. The delivery of public education has changed dramatically, and we've been forced to adapt. Now is our chance to reimagine a better education system because the status quo is no longer an option.
To improve our school system, we need to: use technology to innovate classrooms and unlock possibilities for more personalized learning; provide school schedules that fit the needs of working families and teachers; and teach students key life skills like managing finances, living independently, and resolving conflicts.
With kids of my own in public schools, I support parental choice and local control. A new law mandating statewide graphic Comprehensive Sexual Education was instituted this year. This must be stopped. Meanwhile, nearly half of Washington's students are failing to meet state standards in core subjects. I am endorsed by parents, teachers, and school board members across Washington because I respect community input.
I am running for Superintendent because I believe our kids deserve better and can achieve more. If elected, we will update our school system to meet the needs of families, teachers, and the future economy.
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
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Candidate Washington State Senate District 28 |
Personal |
Footnotes
