The Seattle Times editorial board recommends: Hilary Franz for the 6th Congressional District

Alacrity is not a word ascribed to today’s Congress. Just this year: Urgent immigration reform was sunk for campaign purposes. Dithering over military aid to Ukraine made congressional dysfunction a national security vulnerability. Budget brinkmanship has recently steered federal agencies toward shutdowns that threaten the economy. It’s inefficient, time- and money-wasting and doesn’t serve the people’s best interests.

In Washington state, the Legislature’s reactionary strategy to wildfires was to cut a yearly check after they were put out. Instead, state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz spearheaded a visionary plan to prevent fires altogether — and to equip her agency to pounce quickly on ones that still do start. That kind of leadership is direly needed in Congress. Voters in the 6^th District, which stretches from Tacoma to the Olympic Peninsula, should send Franz.

“We’ve got to get to a place where we rebalance how we’re spending so we aren’t having to be in this constant crisis reaction,” Franz told the editorial board. “[That] always costs more.”  

In an arena of disparate partners, including firefighters, loggers and environmentalists, Franz secured unanimous legislative support to devote a huge chunk of taxpayer money — $500 million — to tackle the problem of catastrophic wildfire, unhealthy forests and of safeguarding a growing number of homes in wooded areas. The results speak for themselves: In 2023, a year fires in Canada alone scorched an area the size of Washington, our state kept 95% of blazes on state Department of Natural Resources land below 10 acres.

The lessons she learned as lands commissioner would also be invaluable in D.C. The state’s Department of Natural Resources possesses just 10% of the state’s total forestland; federal forestlands here are roughly four times that size. That federal acreage is unkept, unhealthy and in need of the same forest health treatment plans she’s established in this Washington. Her expertise on environmental issues, including climate change, would make her one of the most knowledgeable in those areas on her first day in Congress.

Franz, a resident of Pacific Beach in Grays Harbor County, was encouraged to run for the seat by its current occupant, retiring U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. Kilmer likes her ability to work constructively with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, an approach he himself has wielded well. Kilmer, along with many tribes, unions and local elected officials in the 6th District, including Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, have endorsed Franz.

Franz faces a tough opponent in fellow Democrat Emily Randall. The Bremerton state senator, who twice toppled Republicans to win the purple 26th Legislative District, also has an impressive list of endorsements, including U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and former Gov. Chris Gregoire. She’s an accomplished lawmaker whose focus on higher education and health care access is needed in Olympia.

But Franz’s bipartisan leadership and élan as public lands commissioner is too important to keep from the nation’s capital.

Members of Congress should approach issues the way Franz approached wildfire: tackle problems before they grow out of control. That strategy is both fiscally responsible and the right thing to do. Given her track record, voters should send Franz to Congress.