The candidates, the places, the issues of the 35th District

Politicians and pundits prognosticate about the primary fight with implications for control of the state Senate.

Robert Mak

Robert Mak Jul 9, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>The candidates, the places, the issues of the 35th District</h1>
                <h2><p>Politicians and pundits prognosticate about the primary fight with implications for control of the state Senate.</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/rmak-seattletopstory-com/">Robert Mak</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>Politicians and pundits prognosticate about the primary fight with implications for control of the state Senate.</p><p><strong>Washington politics became much more interesting when </strong>two Democratic senators — Tim Sheldon and Rodney Tom — joined with Republicans to take control of the Senate. Now, Tom has chosen to forgo a re-election campaign and Sheldon is in the middle of a primary election fight.</p><p>He's being challenged on the right by a Republican, Travis Couture, and by a Democrat who promises to be more in line with her party, Irene Bowling. Interviews with the candidates and talks with political observers paint a picture of a race that could help determine the state's future course on public school improvements, taxation and transportation.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/101782310" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe></figure><p>For all the stories in Crosscut's Meet the Key Districts package, <a href="http://crosscut.com/Districts/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">click here</a>.</p>
          </article>

Politicians and pundits prognosticate about the primary fight with implications for control of the state Senate.

Washington politics became much more interesting when two Democratic senators — Tim Sheldon and Rodney Tom — joined with Republicans to take control of the Senate. Now, Tom has chosen to forgo a re-election campaign and Sheldon is in the middle of a primary election fight.

He's being challenged on the right by a Republican, Travis Couture, and by a Democrat who promises to be more in line with her party, Irene Bowling. Interviews with the candidates and talks with political observers paint a picture of a race that could help determine the state's future course on public school improvements, taxation and transportation.

For all the stories in Crosscut's Meet the Key Districts package, click here.

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By Robert Mak

Robert Mak is a principal of Seattletopstory.com and a longtime broadcast reporter in Western Washington.