The candidates for the 18th Legislative District House Position 1 seat agree that homelessness and education funding are two of the biggest issues facing the district. But Republican Rep. Stephanie McClintock and Democratic challenger Deken Letinich have different ideas about how to address those challenges.
McClintock, 54, works in public relations for United Grain Corp and formerly served on the Battle Ground school board. She was elected in 2022 to represent the 18th District, which stretches from Hazel Dell to Battle Ground. She serves as an assistant ranking member on the capital budget and the consumer protection and business committees, and as a member on the education committee.
Political newcomer Letinich, 44, is a laborer and union organizer with the Washington and Northern Idaho District Council of Laborers, where he also serves as the assistant political and legislative director. He is the son of union laborer Dave Letinich, who was full-time secretary-treasurer of Laborers Local 335 in 2000 and 2001.
McClintock touts her experience as a former small-business owner and her experience representing the business industry.
“It’s really important to have public-sector representation in Olympia,” she said.
Letinich stressed his experience as a laborer and union organizer who advocates for working families. He wants to see more union representation in Olympia.
“There are a lot of blue-collar families in the 18th,” he said. “When we look at how we’re running legislation and what we prioritize, it’s about the people that do the work every day.”
Homelessness
Both candidates said they frequently hear concerns about housing and homelessness as they talk to voters on the campaign trail.
Letinich wants to see more housing options in the district.
“We’ve had the luxury of living out West and having this abundance of space and land for so long that the idea of multifamily housing is almost disparaged,” he said. “As you look at other metropolitan areas across the country, they’ve relied on duplexes, triplexes, condos, apartments, more multifamily dwellings and different zoning opportunities.”
He argued that the 18th District should learn from Vancouver’s successes, such as the city’s Safe Stay communities.
“When we put options in place for people that are willing and trying to change their situation, we see the success rates,” he said.
McClintock pointed to a new 54-bed recovery and mental health center for youth at the former Daybreak Youth Services facility in Brush Prairie for which she helped secure funding, as well as the 48-bed mental health facility being built near Washington State University Vancouver.
“It’s well on its way to being open by the end of the year, which I think is really important for this area of Southwest Washington,” she said.
She wants to ramp up drug use education and support for law enforcement and local nonprofits that work with the homeless. She also wants to continue working on some bills that would promote housing construction that did not make it through the Legislature last session.
“Good bills take time,” she said. “There are a few bills that will be returned that I think will be better, and we might have some solutions that’ll help.”
Education
McClintock said supporting education is one of her priorities, and she mentioned two education-related bills that she would like to reintroduce during the next legislative session.
One would require each school district to adopt rules around cellphone use. The other would require parents to offer an explanation if they want to pull their kids out of school.
“I call it an exit survey bill,” she said. “That’s just a tactic we use in the private sector. I thought, why don’t we find out from these parents why they’re pulling their kids out of schools, and address those issues?”
McClintock argued that Washington needs a new funding formula for public education. She mentioned a bill that she introduced last session inspired by Battle Ground Public Schools.
“We’ve got schools that are 50-plus years old, and they cannot pass a bond,” she said. “The bill was a 75 percent state match. If you’ve got buildings over 50 years old and you’ve tried to pass a bond — so at least you’ve made the effort, and the community rejects that — then you would be eligible for more funds.”
Letinich said he wants to enact a simple majority for passing bonds and levies.
“That’s something I’d be happy to start pushing Day 1,” he said. “When we’re not fully funding public education, I think we’re only hurting the people in our state.”
Other issues
Letinich said that he supports abortion rights. McClintock said that she does not support abortion, but that she will not seek to overturn abortion rights.
Both candidates support the project to replace the Interstate 5 Bridge. Letinich said he wants to make sure it gets finished. McClintock said she would like to see another lane added to the project.
McClintock supports the four Republican-backed statewide ballot initiatives, which would repeal the state’s cap-and-invest carbon emissions program, long-term care insurance, capital gains tax and regulations to discourage natural gas use. Letinich opposes those initiatives.
Both candidates stressed the importance of representing the values of their constituents.
“I am a good representative of the people. I take their concerns and their voices into consideration,” McClintock said. “I have voted against my caucus for a few things because people in the 18th District were supportive of it. So, I’m not afraid to go out on a limb and make sure I do my due diligence in representing the people of my district.”
Letinich said he is ready to “hit the ground running.”
“With a majority in the House, I will have an easier go of getting things passed and getting things taken care of,” he said. “When you have the mindset of working together for working families in the state of Washington, you can get things done quickly and effectively.”
Ballots will be mailed in Clark County by Oct. 16. Election Day is Nov. 5.
