State Representative, position 1
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Dye (R) | 27,966 | 68.35% |
| Jenn Goulet (D) | 12,951 | 31.65% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
About the Race
Mary Dye won an appointment to the seat last year and soon won the seat in a special election. She faced two opponents in the August primary, easily topping both with 58 percent of the vote.
Jennifer Goulet, who identifies as a “Berniecrat” because of her support of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, advanced to the general election with Dye. She has criticized Dye for accepting campaign donations from the pharmaceutical industry and other corporate contributors. She supports tying the minimum wage to the cost of living and a nationalized, single-payer, universal health care system.
Dye, who operates a wheat farm, said Goulet lacks knowledge of rural life, the intricacies of the agricultural industry and the problems farmers face – including a lack of indemnity amid a costly quality-control issue impacting wheat growers in the region. Dye plans to continue working on bills to improve fire response in the region, bring broadband to rural areas so residents can be more competitive in the global marketplace, and provide more water lines to support increased food production in the area.
The Candidates
Mary Dye
- Party:
- Republican
- Age:
- 63
- City:
- Pomeroy, Washington
Education: Graduated from South Fremont High School in St. Anthony, Idaho, in 1979. Earned a plants and crop management degree from the University of Idaho in 1983.
Work experience: Served in Peace Corps as agricultural educator in Peace Corps in Ubon, Thailand, from 1984 to 1986. Helped build wells and water systems for villages that had none. Co-manages third-generation wheat farm since 1987.
Political experience: Vice chair of the state’s Republican Party from 1994 to 1997. Appointed to state House in 2015 and later elected to the seat that same year. Re-elected in 2016 and every two years since.
Family: Married to Roger Dye. Has three children.
Campaign finance: Dye has raised the most money in the race, collecting more than $74,700 as of Oct. 2, 2024, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Top donors include BNSF Railway, Koch-Political Action Committee, the Potato PAC, Boeing, the Cascade Natural Gas Corporation, Amazon, Chevron Corporation and Avista.
Jenn Goulet
- Party:
- Democratic
- Age:
- 47
- City:
- Pasco, Washington
Goulet announced on Facebook in September 2020 that she decided to drop out of the race: "We are moving to Savannah, Georgia this month, where there are better opportunities for my children, including the possibility for my son to attend one of the most prestigious art schools in the nation." Her name, however, will remain on the November ballot.
Education: Graduated from Kennewick High School. Earned Associates degree from College of DuPage in Illinois in general studies. Earned bachelor’s applied management at Columbia Basin College.
Work experience: Works from home. Small business owner performing instructional design services for Microsoft. Previously was a training specialist at the HAMMER Federal Training Center and a technical writer supporting the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup efforts on the Hanford Site.
Political experience: Ran for state Legislature in 2016 and 2018. Former chairwoman of Franklin County Democrats.
Complete Coverage
Wheat farmer Mary Dye seeks return to Olympia against progressive Jennifer Goulet in southeast Washington race
If Jennifer Goulet lands a seat in the state House, it would be the first time a Democrat has been elected in the district since 1937. Goulet, of Pasco, is running for the state’s 9th Legislative District – which covers a large, mostly-rural swath of southeastern Washington – against incumbent Republican Rep. Mary Dye, of Pomeroy.
Two challenging Mary Dye in race for state House
Two Republicans and a self-proclaimed Berniecrat are hoping to land a spot respresending southwestern Washington in the state House. Jennifer Goulet – who calls herself a Berniecrat because of her support of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – is vying for a seat in the historically Republican 9th Legislative District, a sprawling, rural area in the state’s southeast corner covering Adams, Asotin, Franklin, Garfield, and Whitman counties, and southern Spokane County.
Sunday Spin2: What questions are OK to ask lobbyists
Would legislators ask all lobbyists equally tough questions?
Students say legislator questioned virginity of teen in meeting with high school students
A group of teenagers who visited state Rep. Mary Dye to lobby on behalf of Planned Parenthood said they weren’t expected to be asked about their virginity.