Letter: Re-elect Larry Haler as state representative

Candidates tell us what they have done or are going to do every election. I believe a better measure of an elected official is how they act when no one is watching, and whom they help when they don’t have to. This is the reason I know Rep. Larry Haler to be both an outstanding legislator and person.

In 2013, I was the student representative for state government for University of Washington, Tacoma. I learned of a hierarchy in Olympia. Lobbyists for big corporate interests and unions, the top. Students advocating for their schools, the bottom. When scheduling appointments with legislators, usually we were not given face time with them. Mostly, we met with staff or might get lucky and see a legislator outside of a committee.

However, Larry Haler made time for students, even though we held little influence in Olympia. He cared about our issues and even wanted to fight for our bills, sponsoring our college wine program bill, important for WSU Tri-Cities. Those bills are now law. This process made me believe in our electoral system.

We need men like Larry in office. This election, vote for Larry Haler for state representative.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 4:43 AM with the headline "Letter: Re-elect Larry Haler as state representative."