John Lovick (D)

Few Washington lawmakers can match the breadth of John Lovick’s record in public service. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a Snohomish County resident for 49 years, Lovick built a career in uniform long before he built one in the Legislature. He served 13 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, including patrols off the coast of Alaska, before joining the Washington State Patrol, where he earned Trooper of the Year honors in 1992. He went on to serve as Snohomish County Sheriff and, from 2013 to 2015, as Snohomish County Executive. A former Mill Creek City Council member, he has represented the 44th District in Olympia across two chambers, joining the state Senate in December 2021 to fill the vacancy left when Steve Hobbs became Secretary of State.

That law enforcement background shapes a legislative record built on public safety and results. During his years in the House, Lovick sponsored the Primary Seat Belt Law, which drove seat belt use in Washington from 81 to 97 percent, and authored the legislation creating the Auto Theft Prevention Authority to combat car theft statewide. In the Senate, he has passed measures granting restitution to families harmed by racially restrictive covenant homeownership programs, established new accountability standards for the state’s elected sheriffs, and voted to enact Washington’s tax on the ultra-wealthy. His campaign priorities carry the same throughline: safer roads and communities, expanded public transit through Sound Transit and Swift service, strong and accessible schools, and holding down the cost of living so working families aren’t priced out of the state.

What comes through most in Lovick’s approach is a temperament increasingly rare in politics, one that values relationships, listening, and integrity over noise. He still volunteers regularly at the elementary school his children attended, and he’s known across Snohomish County for cooking his famous deep-fried turkeys at charity events. Married to Karen, a retired schoolteacher, Lovick offers voters a candidacy grounded in more than four decades of showing up for his community, and he asks for their trust to keep doing the work.

Endorsements include Senators June Robinson, Jamie Pedersen, Jesse Salomon, Javier Valdez, Claudia Kauffman, Claire Wilson, Sharon Shewmake, and T’wina Nobles, his 44th District colleagues Reps. Brandy Donaghy and April Berg, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson, County Councilmember Jared Mead, and County Treasurer Brian Sullivan, the Washington State Labor Council, UFCW 3000, WFSE, the Washington State Nurses Association, the Washington State PTA, and Snohomish County Indivisible.