Here’s why the Tri-City Herald recommends Sharon Brown for State Senate

In the state senate race representing Kennewick, Richland and West Richland, citizens have a choice between an experienced legislator and a selfless community volunteer.

As much as we respect and admire Democrat challenger Leo Perales of Kennewick, we recommend voters return Sen. Sharon Brown to office.

Brown, a Republican from Kennewick, has fought hard for Tri-City interests during her time in the Legislature, and she has worked her way up to important leadership positions since she was first appointed to the job in 2013.

That kind of clout bodes well for the community, and we would hate to lose it.

Perales has devoted much of his time to Kennewick city issues and is active in Consejo Latino, a Tri-City Latino advocacy group. He is a lifelong Tri-Citian and a graduate of Kamiakin High School, Columbia Basin College and Heritage University.

He is vice chair of the Kennewick Housing Authority, vice chair of the Benton County Planning Commission, and serves on a slew of other civic boards, including the Kennewick Improvement Board.

Perales is easy to like, and we have no doubt he would work hard if elected to the senate seat. Some of his big concerns are education, health care, tax reform and helping the poor. He said his focus would be people, not politics – and we believe him.

Brown, however, has a solid record of success that gives her the edge in this race. If elected, she wouldn’t be on a learning curve because she already has connections and understands the legislative process.

Some of her accomplishments include making remote access testimony available at Columbia Basin College. That means Tri-Citians don’t have to drive over Snoqualmie Pass in the winter to testify at Senate hearings. She also has worked on suicide prevention measures.

She also bucked her own party when she approved a gas tax increase in 2015 that was set up to pay for a transportation package that included several Tri-City road projects – including the Duportail Street Bridge in the Queensgate area.

Brown was torn at the time because Republicans don’t generally approve new taxes, but she put Tri-City interests ahead of her party, and that’s commendable.

We would have liked to have seen that kind of gumption from her last spring when the Legislature voted to exempt itself from the state Public Records Act.

Brown went along with this terrible bill, which eventually was vetoed by the governor after a public outcry. It wasn’t just the language of the bill that was troubling, it was the way lawmakers pushed it through in a couple of days and without traditional public hearings.

In our interview with her, Brown offered a major “mea culpa” over the fiasco, and admitted she made a mistake. She said at the time she was concerned about privacy issues for constituents and listened to party leaders who pushed for new language in the law.

Brown now regrets voting for it, and said she is going to pay close attention to the legislative task force in charge of coming up with a better way for lawmakers to handle public records requests.

While we could rebuke Brown for this one, horrible vote, we believe she is sincere in her apology. She’s fought hard for Tri-Citians while in office and she has the respect of her colleagues and constituents.

The Tri-City Herald recommends Republican Sharon Brown for State Senator, Legislative District 8.