Washington State Senate District 21 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Washington, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Washington State Senate District 21 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

• Click here to see candidates and election results.
• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Washington State Senate District 21

Incumbent Marko Liias defeated Janelle Cass in the general election for Washington State Senate District 21 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marko Liias (D)	63.2	36,363
		Janelle Cass (R)	36.6	21,069
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	60

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,492
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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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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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?

Janelle Cass (R)

Addressing addiction, especially fentanyl use, is critical to saving lives, safer communities and ending much of the homelessness problem. Proven successful services for mentally ill, drug treatment and job training, utilizing public/private partnerships, are key to solving this growing concern. I will seek effective programs and promote implementing those with optimum outcomes.

We all know that crime is skyrocketing in our area and in Washington State. As your Senator, I will work to restore laws that enable our police and justice departments to arrest and prosecute those who break our laws Ending soft-on-crime policies and supporting Law Enforcement by giving them the tools they need to their job will improve Public Safety

Washington residents are struggling with the ever-increasing cost of living and oppressive taxes. The State is on track to have a $15 Billion-dollar surplus. Instead of frivolous spending, I will work for tax relief to help seniors, businesses, working families and individuals keep more of their hard-earned money.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Janelle Cass (R)

Much of our State’s increased crime is a byproduct of rampant drug addiction. I have participated in encampment clean-ups in the 21st Legislative District, where I witnessed the squalor and despair homeless addicts live in. The garbage, the needles, the human waste and clear evidence of sex trafficking in the midst of this filth is beyond heart wrenching. My heart breaks for the people who get caught up in addiction, but allowing them, and in fact enabling them, to live in these circumstances is not compassionate. Last fall, I hosted a forum where I engaged extensively with outreach experts, who go into the trenches, helping addicts get the treatment they need. They shared where there are break downs in the system, what works and what does not.

Along with the human tragedy, as an environmental engineer, I can’t help but be concerned about the countless acres of land being contaminated by tons of solid and hazardous waste. This is contaminating storm water, impacting wildlife and neighborhoods and is a direct result of enabling drug abuse rather than enforcing basic sanitation and public health laws.

Instead of feel-good, meaningless legislation, as your next Senator, I vow to find substantial solutions that will help addicts get into treatment and job training, so they can have long-term success to become productive members of society. I do not say this lightly, I realize that this is a complex long-term effort that requires commitment and perseverance.

See also

More about these elections:

• Washington State Senate elections, 2022

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