WATCH: WA Senate candidates differ on taxes, parental rights, protecting girls' sports

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(The Center Square) – With less than two weeks before the general election, two candidates for one of the most closely watched races in Washington state are sharing their views on taxes, parental rights and the protection of girls in sports.

Republicans hope the District 5 Senate contest between Democratic Sen. Victoria Hunt and Republican challenger Chad Magendanz will go in their favor and narrow the majority party's lead in the Senate. 

Washington’s 5th Legislative District includes parts of south and east King County, including Issaquah, Black Diamond and Enumclaw.

Hunt moved from the House of Representatives to the Senate after the death of Bill Ramos during this year’s legislative session.

Magendanz, a former Issaquah School Board member, teaches computer science in the Bellevue School District. He served in the Washington House from 2013 through 2017, representing the same district he is now running for, and ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2024, but did not advance beyond the primary.

In a Tuesday interview with The Center Square, Magendanz said while he will have to give up his teaching position if elected, he feels it is worth the sacrifice.

“We don't have a lot of Republicans in King County who can do this,” he said. “And that's what it really comes down to. You’re looking for somebody who's got a little bit of name ID inside the district who's actually got a voting record that people can examine.”

Despite attacks from opponents trying to tie him to the Trump administration, Magendanz says his voting record speaks for itself.

“The standard attacks that we get in King County is ‘orange man bad.’ They're trying to put us out there as some right-wing extremist. But I've gotten my eight Seattle Times endorsements. These are things that they don't give to extremists,” he said.

He contends that his opponent is beholden to the far-left majority that has majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.

“They have a machine, especially in King County, and people wait their turn for an opportunity to run, and then they kind of latch onto the machine, and the machine carries in the victory,” Magendanz said.  “And so the price that they pay for that level of support for a campaign is that they're expected to vote party line when they're done. My opponent has very much done that. They’re expecting her to vote party line, and she's voting party line more than any other representative for the district.”

Hunt responded to the criticism via email.

“I am proud that the bills I sponsored and passed this last session had Republican co-sponsors and passed with bipartisan votes,” she said. “When there are party-line votes, such as protecting reproductive rights and strengthening gun laws, we see agreement from across the spectrum of Democratic legislators, from moderates to progressives. So, for my opponent to claim that I somehow vote with a particular subset of my caucus is simply false.”

Magendanz said the most common theme he’s hearing from voters is that government is too big and taxes are too high.

“I look back at the last eight years, and spending has doubled at the state level,” he noted. “How many of us can look back and say our salaries have doubled in the last eight years? I think that Olympia should be expected to live within its means, too.”

The Center Square asked Hunt where she stands on potential tax hikes to deal with a budget gap of almost $2 billion for the next legislative session, according to June’s revenue forecast.

“I am committed to opposing any tax that increases the burden on working families and will balance any proposed revenue with looking for cuts and savings,” she said. “In the face of federal cuts and chaos, we cannot abandon our core responsibilities of funding K-12, providing for safety and health, and maintaining roadways and infrastructure.”

Magendanz said the current debate over parental rights and the protection of girls in sports is another hot topic on the campaign trail.

Let's Go Washington is currently gathering signatures for initiatives on parental rights in schools and prohibiting transgender girls from participating in K-12 school sports. 

“So the parental rights issue they knew was a very popular issue, which is why they didn't want it to go on the ballot last November,” he said, referring to Democratic lawmakers who passed a parents’ bill of rights initiative in 2024, only to then pass legislation this session that rewrote portions of the initiative.

“That’s not going over well with parents,” Magendanz observed.

He turned his laptop to show a classroom camera he keeps on at all times.

“I put a camera in my classroom when we were hybrid. So, I've kept it going. My kids know that camera is on all the time. Their parents could be watching; the principal [could be watching] at any given time. So, I have to bring my A game,” he said. “I feel like if I'm on the payroll of the public, that they deserve that kind of insight into the work that I'm doing on their behalf.”

Hunt responded to a question about her stance on Let’s Go Washington’s two initiatives.

“My opponent loves to describe himself as a moderate and a consensus builder, yet he consistently aligns himself with the culture wars of his party rather than the real issues facing our community,” she said. “These initiatives are not only divisive and extreme—they’re also so poorly and carelessly written that their consequences would be deeply damaging. One would actually strip parents of some rights in decisions about their children, the other would subject young girls to invasive medical exams just to participate in school sports. I refuse to use children or school athletics as political pawns.”

According to the Public Disclosure Commission, Hunt has raised more than $366,000 in campaign contributions, with $225,000 donated by groups that hope to defeat her.

Magendanz has brought in more than $383,000, with $126,000 donated by groups campaigning against him.

Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on election day, Nov. 4.