Mari Leavitt (D)

Mari Leavitt was raised in a military family and built a career in education and human services before running for office, working as a postsecondary administrator at Pierce College, Tacoma Community College, Evergreen State College, and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and later as Deputy Director of Pierce County Human Services, where she helped run programs spanning affordable housing, homelessness, aging and long-term care, behavioral health, early learning, and job training. A longtime University Place resident of more than three decades, she holds a doctorate in community college leadership from Oregon State University and co-owns a local orthodontics practice with her husband, with whom she raises several children, including two adopted from foster care.

In Olympia, Leavitt has channeled that background into a record built around housing, veterans, education, and public safety. She serves as Vice Chair of the House Housing Committee and sits on the Postsecondary Education and Workforce, Capital Budget, and Rules committees, and she Co-Chairs the Joint Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, sponsoring legislation on pay equity for the National Guard, occupational licensing for veterans and military spouses, and support services for service members and their families. Her housing work has expanded affordable options and directed resources toward homelessness and survivors of trafficking, while her health-related bills have broadened access to behavioral health care, responded to the opioid crisis, and protected health workers from workplace violence.

What ties Leavitt’s work together is a practical, service-first approach rooted in the communities she has called home for more than thirty years. She frames her mission around economic security for working families, accessible healthcare, safe housing, quality public education from early learning through apprenticeship, and thriving small businesses, and her national roles through the Council of State Governments and the National Conference of State Legislatures reflect a legislator increasingly sought out for her expertise. For voters across Lakewood, University Place, Fircrest, DuPont, Steilacoom, and the Joint Base Lewis-McChord community, she offers the steady, detail-oriented advocacy of someone who has spent her career helping families navigate the systems she now helps write.

Endorsements include Gov. Bob Ferguson, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, Attorney General Nick Brown, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, Superintendent Chris Reykdal, Auditor Pat McCarthy, Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer, Reps. Adam Smith and Marilyn Strickland, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello, Planned Parenthood of Washington, the Washington Education Association, the Washington State Labor Council, the Washington State Nurses Association, and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.