Constituents in the 35th legislative district may span three counties and several of Washington’s biggest industries, but their interests must be represented by just one candidate.

James DeHart-D, a state employee of 10 years, and incumbent state Rep. Travis Couture-R are each vying for a Position 2 seat in the state legislature. While both are running on platforms that address affordability for rural communities, increased funding for education, better infrastructure and a collaborative mentality, they seek different outcomes.

The candidates’ platforms stand the furthest apart when it comes to healthcare and public safety.

Couture references increasing public safety as one of his top priorities. Despite its proximity to urban areas, Mason County has about five deputies to cover 1,000 square miles, he said. In 2023, he voted to restore police pursuits and recriminalize possession of hard drugs.

“We need more boots on the ground, but we also need the proper tools — not just physical tools, but legal tools for our law enforcement to tackle a lot of the problems we’re seeing in our state,” he said. “Oftentimes we’re soft targets for crime from those urban areas because we don’t have the police coverage.”

DeHart stands by changes state Democrats have made to the criminal justice system, and emphasizes that restructuring law enforcement tactics is necessary for democracy. “We must keep at it so we can have a safe and equitable society. Gun reform, drug laws, sexual assault laws and other programs need to be revisited to ensure that we are protecting the rights of all citizens, not just the ones who look like us,” he said.

Anecdotes of medical debt from voters, national trends and recent personal brushes with the healthcare system have motivated DeHart to push for Medicaid for All throughout the state because, “It’s time that people don’t leave the hospital worried about a bill.”

However, in the rural 35th district access to healthcare isn’t just a financial question — it’s dependent on local infrastructure, and most roads and bridges are in poor shape, he said. During a disaster or medical emergency, if a bridge were to fail, it could be devastating, he added.

“Republican leadership has turned down multiple transportation funding opportunities to fix up this district because they don’t want to go back and say that they may have upped taxes on their constituents,” he said. “To me, it’s shirking responsibility on transportation projects that go to improve our infrastructure, either just a repair or actually do a project that is sustainable and will keep us safe for a number of years.”

DeHart and Couture agree that the public education system needs to be fully funded to function well.

“What I would say to Republicans who are uneasy about sending more money to schools is that our state’s constitution lays out as its paramount duty to fully provide for — and that means fund — education,” he said. “Is the system perfect? Absolutely it’s not — I think that’s what rank-and-file Republicans are frustrated about, is that they don’t see a school system that is generating academic outcomes for the money they invest.”

DeHart pointed out that while Couture’s commitment to special education funding is “admirable,” the GOP candidate accepted campaign funding from Moms for Liberty, an anti-LGBTQ schools lobbying group, which introduces a dangerous precedent in state legislature, he said. “I believe in government transparency, and when you have somebody who is supported by a group that censors and bans books, you have somebody who may claim to be transparent, but they don’t want history to be transparent, apparently,” he said.

Both also support working with the other party. Couture cited his track record of being able to push his constituents’ needs forward while working in the minority conservative caucus in Olympia.

“Sometimes people ask, ‘Well, we’re a blue state, how can you be effective?’ Well, you have to build relationships,” he said. “I’ve delivered that collaboration, that bipartisanship, but also stuck to the principles and values that matter to not only myself, but to the people in my district.”

DeHart noted that adding a Democrat to the 35th’s leadership would introduce an ideological balance that has not been apparent for a decade; “Then we’ll actually have real representation in Olympia.”