Joe Bushnell
FOR STATE HOUSE, 29th DIST. , POST. 2Chanjolee “Joe” Bushnell is Tacoma’s Deputy Mayor, running for the House in the 29th Legislative District. A lifelong Tacoman and Marine Corps combat veteran, he was elected to the city council in 2021 as Washington State’s first Cambodian-American councilmember and was chosen by his colleagues to serve as Deputy Mayor for 2026.
His record is grounded in local governance and community service. A longtime small-business advocate, he worked on behalf of local businesses through the Washington Hospitality Association in Pierce County and served as a Travel Tacoma board member and on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Food Advisory Board. Before his council tenure, he chaired the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council and volunteered with neighborhood cleanups, tree-planting projects, and Toys for Tots. His legislative platform centers on three priorities: affordability for working families squeezed by rising costs, universal healthcare so no family loses coverage based on employer or income, and better-resourced community safety through mental health and addiction treatment.
Bushnell casts himself as a servant leader who believes the highest-impact change happens at the local level and wants to carry that bottom-up orientation to Olympia. He’s a pragmatic local official with a commanding electoral base in his district and a coalition that stretches across the Democratic establishment, labor, and business.
Endorsements include Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, State Auditor Pat McCarthy, Tacoma Mayor Anders Ibsen, former Mayor Victoria Woodards, State Representatives Jake Fey and Dan Bronoske, a near-complete slate of current and former Tacoma councilmembers, the Tacoma firefighters (IAFF Local 31) and police (IUPA Local 6), Teamsters Local 117, the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, VoteVets, and New Politics.