With a Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA dateline, a headshot clearly taken at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market, and a campaign logo that incorporates a red, white, and blue light rail train, community leader and reproductive rights activist Jessi Murray has announced she will take on veteran legislator Frank Chopp for his seat in the state’s House.
Murray is casting the race in light that is likely familiar to any close observer of the 2020 Democratic Primary battle — a decision between the Democratic establishment and a new, more progressive approach:
I am running for this seat because it is time for a new direction. From healthcare to income inequality, we need bold solutions to the greatest challenges facing our district and state. Democrats have majorities in both the house and the senate, yet we still have the most regressive tax system in the country and have not made meaningful movement on addressing our homelessness crisis. As a Representative for one of the most Democratic and left-leaning districts in the state, I will be a loud and proud advocate for transit, housing, healthcare, and climate action.
Murray is a Technical Program Manager at GenUI and a current commissioner and former co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, and a Precinct Committee Officer with the 43rd Legislative District Democrats.
Earlier this month, incumbent Chopp announced he would seek reelection to the seat he has held since 1995, highlighting his part in building “a 20-year Democratic majority that passed significant legislation to expand health care, build union membership throughout Washington, raise teacher salaries, safeguard reproductive rights and women’s health care, reduce gun violence, and so much more.”
Chopp’s recent run of election victories could be a model for establishment Democrats facing an onslaught of challenges from the left. In Chopp’s last race, he faced tepid competition from a Republican challenger who could only claim around 10% of the vote. But before that, he twice fended off Socialist Alternative challengers including in 2012 when he defeated upstart candidate Kshama Sawant in what for Chopp was a squeaker — a 71% to 29% victory. Chopp stepped aside last year from his role of Speaker of the House.
CHS will have more from both candidates soon. Challengers will face off in August with the top two going through to the November General Election. In the meantime, you have until March 10th to cast your vote in the state’s presidential primary.
You can learn more about Murray at electjessimurray.com.
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I hope Candidate Murray doesn’t believe that a state income tax will somehow be progressive. I have reviewed state income taxes in some of the “Blue” states, and they are just as regressive as the Federal income tax. The more money someone makes, the less they pay.
If she really does want a state income tax, I hope she has a plan to repeal all the other taxes that she considers regressive. Most of the time, when people advocate a state income tax, they mean in addition to the pile of taxes we already have.
Other than that, it looks like she is on the right track.
Federal income taxes are in fact progressive.
Only on paper. The richer I get, the smaller the percentage of tax that I pay.
We shouldn’t create a progressive state income tax because some other states have non-progressive income taxes isn’t a very good reason.
The main reason to reject a state income tax would be that the state government would just add it to all the other taxes, rather than use it to replace those taxes.
If they really do replace the other taxes with a state income tax, then I would be happy, because I will pay less tax as my income goes up.
I’m trying to do basic math and understand what @Anti-Itna is saying. You do understand that the brackets are cumulative, right? And the top bracket, if you’re lucky enough to be there, is applied to all of your income not in another bracket. So you do pay more for every dollar more you earn…
GregM
You are just looking at the published tax tables for earned income. Those apply to people who earn money as employees. Most of my money is earned in other ways – small businesses, rentals, equities, cryptocurrencies, overseas investments, etc. There are all kinds of breaks for money earned not through employment, and the more a person makes in these ways, the more breaks there are, some of which include deferring reported income to later times when the tax environment is more favorable, like now. Trump’s tax breaks are for rich people and the richer a person is, the bigger the breaks.
You need to look deeper than H&R Block or TurboTax.