Washington state Rep. Beth Doglio joins crowded race to succeed Denny Heck in Congress

State Rep. Beth Doglio, who has represented Olympia in the Legislature for the last three years, is running for Congress.

Doglio joins the crowded race in Washington’s 10th Congressional District to replace Rep. Denny Heck, who is retiring. Heck has represented the district since it was created following the 2010 census.

Doglio was first elected to the Legislature in 2017, when she ran unopposed for the 22nd District seat vacated by then-Rep. Sam Hunt, who ran for Senate. She was easily reelected in 2018, winning nearly 70% of the vote. She is not stepping down from the Legislature and will serve out the end of her term, but will not seek reelection.

A longtime environmental activist, Doglio was the founding director of Washington Conservation Voters, a position she held from 1991 to 1995. She later worked for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and Audubon Washington. Since 2007, Doglio has worked at Climate Solutions, a Northwest environmental and clean energy advocacy group, serving as a senior adviser and campaign director.

“I want to take what we have done in this Washington to the other Washington,” Doglio said, in announcing her campaign. “We are acting on the urgency of climate change, standing up for unions and working people, and addressing the crisis of homelessness and affordable housing.”

Doglio, 55, also supports a Medicare for All health care system, a Green New Deal and stricter gun laws.

Doglio is the ninth candidate to enter the race, and the fifth Democrat, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. She joins Democrats Kristine Reeves, a former state representative who resigned from the Legislature to run; Marilyn Strickland, the former mayor of Tacoma; Phil Gardner, a former aide to Heck; and Joshua Collins, a socialist running as a Democrat. On the Republican side, candidates include Nancy Dailey Slotnick, who also ran in 2018, Ryan Tate, Don Hewitt and Rian Ingram, according to the FEC.