Candidates announce plans for 30th District legislative seat runs

Claire Wilson will run for state Senate, and Mark Greene is seeking state representative position 2.

By For the Mirror • March 1, 2018 3:23 pm

Two candidates have announced they will run for 30th District legislative positions.

Federal Way School Board president Claire Wilson announced on Facebook Monday that she will run for the state Senate seat held by Republican Mark Miloscia.

Federal Way resident Mark Greene will seek the 30th District state representative position 2 seat held by Democrat Kristine Reeves.

Filing for the Aug. 7 primary is May 14 to 18. The top two candidates in the primary will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.

Wilson, a mother of two children who attended Federal Way Public Schools, worked for more than three decades in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education teaching at risk and non-traditional students.

“I have spent my life working to help children and families get access to education and opportunity,” Wilson, who will run as a Democrat, said in her announcement. “We need leaders in Olympia with that same commitment to helping all people, uniting communities and investing in our children and our future. Instead, we see too much partisanship and too many excuses in a state Senate that has for too long been mired in gridlock.”

In addition to leadership on education, Wilson said she will focus on improving efficiency in transportation investments and protecting health care access and affordability – issues central to a strong local economy and healthy, secure families.

Greene, an honorably discharged veteran who served in U.S. Marine Corps from 1972 to 1974, announced last November he would run as a Republican, although he did not start actively campaigning until this month.

According to a press release, Greene’s common man-pronged agenda includes revitalizing and reshaping housing policies that will not shut out low-waged or temporarily displaced workers, the disabled, poor and others not on a high- end payroll from having decent housing, he said in the media release.

“Greene’s policies will put state pressure on real estate companies and home builders to encompass the entire community in their housing and building plans/policies, not just a certain subset, and if these private companies do not act on behalf of the greater commons,” according to the release. Greene said if elected, he would advocate for education for everybody, including focusing more on family and personal responsibility toward learning, along with the educational funding.

“Money is central to run our schools, of course, but all the money in the world spent on education can’t put a book in somebody hands and make them read it, thus family and personal responsibility is the most important aspect of learning,” Greene said in his release.

Greene has run unsuccessfully for Washington state lieutenant governor, the Newcastle and Federal Way city councils and Federal Way mayor. He also ran for office in Alaska.