SUQUAMISH — April Ferguson, a member of the Suquamish Citizens Advisory Committee and a former child care center operator, has announced her candidacy for 23rd District state representative, position 1.

Ferguson, a Republican, is running for the position currently occupied by Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo. State representatives are elected for two-year terms. The primary election is Aug. 2, the general election is Nov. 8.

“I am running for office because I have a passion for change and a love for the process and respect for the voice of the people,” Ferguson said in an announcement of her candidacy. “We have a system that was created by our founders that is a winning system, but far too often we don’t understand how to use it and we complain about the product that is produced being our government … I want to help [solve] the problem, not be a citizen that complains about it. I want to just give people a voice — true representation, because that is what will empower them.”

Ferguson, 31, and her electrical-contractor husband have four children. According to her online bio and LinkedIn account, she studied early childhood education at Clackamas Community College and Olympic College, and owned Caring Hands Learning Center in Sequim for 2.5 years before moving to Suquamish.

According to her online bio, she overcame a speech disorder and experienced homelessness as a child, and helped her family build a candle-making business. She wrote that her childhood was tough, “but from it I did learn the value of hard work and, even more, [perseverance] in times of great adversity. I learned to be resilient and to be motivated.” She and her husband bought their first home and were business owners by the time they were 25.

In February 2015, she lost her child care business because of, according to her, abuse of power by a state licenser. Ferguson said her problems started when she fired an employee; the employee was a friend of a state licenser and filed a complaint against Ferguson.

Ferguson said she had placed her own 2-year-old daughter into a stroller and put her in a seat belt, and was written up for violating state rules related to restraining a child. “They misconstrued the law,” she said.

State licensers then claimed an employee with disabilities was not competent for a number of jobs she was given. “Every employee that had a disability I oversaw, and job coaches were provided to help ensure they had what they needed to be successful in the work place,” Ferguson recalled. A licenser said of one employee, “She is not a normal staff member” and “She should only be hired for cleaning toys.” Ferguson was told to fire the employee, but she refused.

According to Ferguson, “Business owners are being blocked by unnecessary burdensome regulations and state agencies are over-regulating and out [of] control, but the blame is not on them entirely. The problem is, our laws are too broad and our state agencies are more likely to have incorrect interpretations of those laws when they are not given clear and concise laws. We need to be clear and concise in our laws.”

Her priorities:

— “In Olympia, I will work to protect the local communities’ rights to control the education of their youth.”

— “I am committed to improving our economy by supporting small businesses and reducing the regulations that are unnecessary [and] are shutting small businesses down.”

— “One of my main issues [is] the operations of the ferries, an issue that matters to every resident of the 23rd District … The ferry system should be operated as a business with a budget, [with expenses that are] lower than the expected gross income.”

— She supports Tribal sovereignty, or self-government, and sees it as “essential to restore the culture our nation destroyed. Our government needs to limit its influence in [Native American] communities  … They know best how to teach their culture to their children and restore their culture. Programs for Native Americans are best successful in the control of Native Americans.”

— “In Olympia, I will make it a priority issue to strike down regulation that limits property rights.”

— “In Olympia, I will focus on gun rights which, in the recent legislative sessions, have been under attack.”

— “As a state representative, [I] will work to reduce the [number] of children held in detention centers.”

— “I strongly believe in job support for adults with disabilities, and in Olympia [I] will work to protect the programs that help adults with disabilities.”

Ferguson said she will not be a career politician. “Being a representative is not a career, it’s a service. When it’s a career, it’s about getting elected again. I want to be a voice  for everyday people. I want to represent the young man who works at Taco Bell trying to support his family, rather than represent special interests.”

She also believes she can juggle the responsibilities of being a state representative with being a mother of four.

“Our society is filled with single moms that work 9 to 5 jobs,” she said. “They’re there every single day. [For moms], there is no off time or end of session.” Serving in the legislature “is not any more demanding than a mom who works at Walmart.”