Steve Rubenstein

Steve Rubenstein

Independent

Education

Bachelor's

University of Pennsylvania

Personal

Profession

Entrepreneur, consultant

Contact

Personal website

Steve Rubenstein was an independent candidate for governor of Washington in the 2016 elections. He was defeated in the August 2 primary election.

Biography

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Rubenstein grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Washington in 2000 with his wife in order for her to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Washington. He has founded two companies—one successful—and works as a consultant.

Rubinstein lives in Bothell, WA, with his wife, two dogs, and two children.

Education

• B.A., entrepreneurial management and information systems, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

Elections

2016

Main article: Washington gubernatorial election, 2016

Rubenstein filed to run as an independent in the 2016 election for governor of Washington. He competed with four Democrats, three Republicans, and three minor party candidates in the August 2 top-two primary election. He was defeated by incumbent Governor Jay Inslee (D), who placed first in the primary election, and Seattle Port Commissioner Bill Bryant (R), who placed second.

The following candidates ran in the Washington primary for governor.

Washington primary for governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jay Inslee Incumbent	49.30%	687,412
	Republican	Bill Bryant	38.33%	534,519
	Republican	Bill Hirt	3.47%	48,382
	Democratic	Patrick O'Rourke	2.91%	40,572
	Independent	Steve Rubenstein	1.62%	22,582
	Democratic	James Robert Deal	1.05%	14,623
	Democratic	Johnathan Dodds	1.01%	14,152
	Republican	Goodspaceguy	0.95%	13,191
	Socialist Workers Party	Mary Martin	0.74%	10,374
	Fifth Republic Party	David Blomstrom	0.32%	4,512
	Holistic Party	Christian Joubert	0.29%	4,103
Total Votes				1,394,422
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Campaign themes

2016

Rubenstein's campaign website outlined the following priorities:

“

Education: Somehow, it required the Washgington [sic] State Supreme Court to point out that Washington is not meeting its paramount duty of funding education. Yet we are still no closer to solving this. The inability of our government to solve this problem is robbing our children of their future. Tax Reform: Washington has the most regressive tax structure of any state. Our over-reliance on sales tax is also just about the dumbest way to provide stable tax revenues. We need to diversify our revenue base. This is not simply about raising taxes. Mental Health: It may seem easy to ignore this problem if it does not affect you directly, but the state is under Federal Contempt of Court for not fully funding mental health. We must properly fund mental health services for everyone's benefit. Drug Reform: At some point, we must accept the fact that making drugs illegal causes significantly more problems than it is worth. We legalized marijuana and the world did not come to an end. Minimum Wage: While the best long-term solution to minimum-wage jobs is to focus on enabling workers to get the education they need to get higher-paying jobs, we must accept that many minimum wage jobs are no longer the first or entry-level jobs they once were. A fair solution is a 3-tier minimum wage, a higher standard minimum wage, a temporary training wage for 6 months, and a lower minimum wage for workers under 18. Environmental Protection: I am admittedly a treehugger, yet I understand the need to balance environmental needs and jobs. But you will never convince me that a coal export terminal actually benefits our state. State Parks: Washington has great parks, but they are only available to those who can afford a $30 annual pass. That is a tragedy and is incredibly unfair to many working families that cannot afford to visit their own state parks

”

See also

• Governor of Washington
• Washington state executive offices

External links

Suggest a link

• Governor's official website