Staff reports
Covington mortgage business owner Mona Das has announced her candidacy for the state Senate in the 47th Legislative District.
Das will challenge Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, whose second term in office ends January 2019. Fain fills the role of minority floor leader after serving as majority floor leader from 2013 through 2017.
Das, 46, announced her plans last July to run for the Democratic nomination representing Washington state’s 8th Congressional District, a seat that a retiring Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, a seven-term moderate, vacates at the end of the year. Facing long odds in a crowded Democratic candidate field, Das decided to exit the race for Congress in January. Supporters encouraged her to run for state Senate.
The 47th District includes the Southeast King County and parts of Kent, Covington and Auburn.
“As a small business owner who works with families buying their first home, I have seen first hand how big property tax increases are distressing many in our communities, even as our schools struggle to make ends meet,” Das said. “We can make this economy work better and make government work better for families. We can do more to create jobs, ease traffic congestion and make housing affordable.
“My opponent voted for big property tax increases, and voted against the plan to bring them back down. I’m running for state Senate because it’s time families from our community had a strong voice in Olympia,” Das said.
Born in India, Das immigrated to America with her family when she was 8 months old. Her father worked to become a materials science engineer.
Das attended the University of Cincinnati where she earned a degree in psychology, helping her to excel in early roles within the tech industry, internationally and domestically. In 1996, she moved to the Pacific Northwest, establishing the roots of her early career and business success. In Portland, she enjoyed a successful career in the tech industry before launching MOXY Mortgage in 2004, a mortgage business in Renton and focused on educating and empowering first-time homebuyers. In 2012, she went back to school to earn an MBA in sustainable business from Pinchot University (now Presidio Graduate School).
King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht has endorsed Das.
“No matter how tough times had been, the residents of this region are filled with hope that positive change is possible and that our elected leaders can hold themselves to a higher standard,” Johanknecht said. “That they can truly represent us, and listen to us, and bring our ideas and challenges and yes, our hope, to the tables where decisions are made. I firmly believe that Mona Das has what it takes to deliver on that hope.”
Learn more at electmona.com.
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