By Hannah Saunders, For Sound Publishing
Following her first campaign for a governmental position, Sarah Perry won the King County Council District 3 election over 20-year incumbent Kathy Lambert. During the elections, Perry garnered 55.68% of the vote while Lambert garnered 43.98% of the vote in the Nov. 2 general election. Perry’s win will allow for greater Democratic majority on the King County Council, shifting the 6-3 majority to a 7-2 majority.
“It just feels very great and I’m so excited to be able to work with and for all the voters and residents of District 3,” Perry said. “I just cannot wait to get to work.”
Although it was her first time running, Perry has been politically active in the 5th Legislative District since 2016, which she mentioned may be a reason why she received over 200 endorsements. During her campaign, Perry said she personally knocked on about 50 doors per day while her team knocked on 25,000 to 35,000 doors.
“I think we outworked her, and we were very positive. This is a very inclusive campaign and engaging everybody just from wherever they were,” Perry said. “We didn’t run on bantering. We could’ve run a negative campaign and fought in that direction, but mostly there’s so much work we have to do, and we need people who are excited to be engaged and do the work together.”
A goal of Perry’s campaigning was to make sure all community members could see themselves in the campaign. Perry ran heavily on transportation and environmental issues.
“I am excited to work on protecting our environment. That is just really important to me — upholding our zoning laws and maintaining the growth management act, but adjusting areas of change,” Perry said.
When Perry assumes office on Jan. 1, 2022, she wants to work toward protecting the environment so that there can be a regional conversation about roads, farms, open spaces and flooding. For transportation, Perry mentioned transit options must meet environmental goals, but most importantly, she wants to make sure residents of the district can access public transit.
Perry wishes to bring more awareness about gun violence forward when she assumes office. She acknowledged that Washington has good gun laws, but that loopholes still remain.
“This year there have been more gun deaths. It was ridiculously high. It’s the highest gun sale on record in Washington state,” Perry said. “It’s no coincidence we then have the highest death by guns in Washington state. Suicide and homicide — it’s a direct correlation.”
She mentioned an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), which allows for friends and family members experiencing gun violence at the hands of another person to reach out for assistance and to receive protection. She also wishes to keep conversations between community members open.
“We need people who care strongly about their rights as gun owners, and who are very safe in their storage of guns, their use of guns, and their standards of guns — we need those people in the conversation with us, so they are protecting their own rights and keep the guns out of the hands of people who are behaving strangely,” Perry said.
Perry said she respects the vote of residents who voted for opponent Kathy Lambert, and said she wants to earn their support.
“I want to work with them. I want to hear from them. I want to understand how I can represent them in the best possible way, and I welcome phone calls, emails, meetings in their community groups or one on one,” Perry said. “I would appreciate the opportunity to work with them and earn their support because I represent everybody, and I want to work with everybody.”
