Politics & Government

Yoshie Wong Announces Run For State Senate

The Steilacoom School Board member is aiming for longtime Sen. Mike Carrell's seat.

Yoshie Wong, a Steilacoom school board member and long-time community activist announced that she is challenging Sen. Mike Carrell to represent the 28th District in the Washington Legislature.

Wong, a small business owner and 13-year resident of Steilacoom, told supporters thatshe was slow to decide to take on Carrell, but after hearing people complain andreviewing his work in the Senate she decided to respond to the urgings to run,

It was sobering to evaluate the Carrell legacy, she said. “We, as a state and community,are facing enormous challenges in our business lives; our education is under threat, and even our homes are not safe from the political winds. While all this is going on, Carrell ispicking around the edges, making virtually no significant reverse of our fortunes,” she said.

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“It is a complete waste of the 18 years he spent as a legislator. He should be a leader. He is not,” she declared.

“Take education,” Wong said, “Carrell, a former teacher has not taken the lead, or evenfollowed others to solve our many education problems.”

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Wong said she earned bachelor’s and master's degrees in a time when it was possible to get a first-rate university education without going deeply into debt.

"We are not being fair to the young people of Washington. We need to provide advanced learning without placing an enormous financial burden on them. Where is Sen. Carrell in that debate, for example?” she asked."

The American ideal was that well educated young people would grow into prosperous,tax-payers to help support a robust economy and an educational system for futuregenerations, she said. "It worked fabulously well from the end of World War II onward,and it worked well in Washington. What are we doing?”

Wong has long been active in community affairs. She is a board member of the Friends of Steilacoom Library. She was an inaugural member of El Jadida-Tacoma Sister CitiesCommittee, and a former board member of the American Sewing Guild of PierceCounty.

Wong and Frank DePalma have been married 28 years. Wong helped DePalma raisehis two children. She operates a business as a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in helping families and children with challenging behaviors.

Wong is particularly critical of legislation proposed by Carrell and other Republicans thatmimic voter suppression activity in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and across the South.Carrell advocated legislation requiring voters to prove citizenship before casting a ballot.Nevertheless, there is no record of any formal challenge of a voter’s registration.

“That is a non-problem that neither Carrell, nor any other Republican has been able tovalidate,” she said. “It is intended to make voting unnecessarily difficult. It Is an attackon our democracy,” she said.

“I plan to spend the next few months listening to the hopes and concerns of people inthe 28th District so that I can help fashion solutions to make our lives better. That is whata senator ought to do,” she said.


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