Pop the champagne! For the first time in his 20-year tenure, State House Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) will face a progressive challenger in International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) Labor Organizer Melissa Demyan. After bringing more than 46% of the vote in the August primary—just behind Springer’s 50%—she actually has a chance! 

Aaron Schrader, the chair of the 45th Legislative District Democrats, said that the road to victory against such an entrenched incumbent will seem impossible. She's working against a long list of monied donors from big business and real estate, as well as 20 years of name recognition. But if she continues that work, then the win will seem inevitable.

If Demyan successfully slays one of Western Washington’s most notorious DINOs, she said her victory will not only give the voters of the 45th LD a representative better-aligned with their values, it will also send a message to all old-guard Democrats in Olympia: if they don’t get with the program, then progressives will take their seat. 

Demyan said she’s lobbied Springer over labor issues in her role as an organizer at IAM. The two have talked face to face, but the times Springer didn’t show up stand out to her the most. Demyan recalled a rainy afternoon last year that she spent on the steps of the state Capitol Building, advocating for legislation to guarantee unemployment insurance for striking and locked-out workers. Several House Democrats came out to show their support, but not Springer. Springer joined Republicans as one of five Democrats to vote against the bill, which later died in the Senate. Demyan felt shocked that her representative would not support cutting-edge labor protections. 

Springer’s record doesn’t look better on other issues, either. He’s been one of the only, or one of the few, Democrats to vote against his party on worker protections, renters’ rights, education, environmentalism, and even reproductive health policy. Springer even failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed to win the endorsement of the 45th District Legislative Democrats during his last election two years ago. 

Springer appears stuck in 2004 as his district, which includes parts of Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, and unincorporated King County, fades from red to purple, Kraig Peck, a community organizer in the 45th LD, told The Stranger. Springer made sense for the district 20 years ago, but Demyan and her supporters—including the 45th LD Democrats, the King County Democrats, and about a dozen unions—believe he’s now out-of-step. 

“Springer’s not a mainstream Democrat,” Peck said. Peck argued that this is the same district that elected Rep. Roger Goodman and state Sen. Manka Dhingra. He said the 45th wants a progressive Democrat, or at least someone who won’t vote with the Republicans so often.

As Fuse Washington wrote in their popular Progressive Voter Guide, “the 45th District deserves stronger progressive leadership in Olympia.” The guide recommends that Demyan take his place and give the district a “fresh start.”

Springer did not respond to my request for comment.

The True Pro-Choice Pick

Denyam said that she believes Springer knows voters want a progressive Democrat, and he’s banking on voters not knowing his conservative record. But Denyam’s got receipts. While she’s admittedly not a policy whiz, she remains confident she offers 45th LD voters an alternative who aligns with them on basic Democratic priorities such as reproductive rights, public education, and tenant protections. 

Even in states such as Washington, where abortion remains legal, voters want to ensure their representatives support reproductive rights following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Washington State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates (PPAA) Courtney Normand said politicians, consultants, and PACs know that voters consider reproductive justice a high priority, and she’s noticed efforts to give candidates a pro-choice glow even when they have failed to earn endorsements from PPAA or Pro-Choice Washington, the two main endorsing bodies for the issue. 

The centrist Jackson Legacy Fund paid for a mailer in support of Springer to do just that. The mailer calls out Springer’s “100% LIFETIME PRO-CHOICE RATING” and calls him “The 45th District’s Pro-Choice Champion.” The Jackson Legacy Fund quoted two of his colleagues, Reps. Kristine Reeves and Amy Walen, praising his support of abortion access. The ad also uses a shade of pink and font that resembles the branding of Planned Parenthood, Normand noted. 

But Normand isn’t sure what rating the ad references. Springer recently disappointed reproductive rights advocates when he failed to support the Keep Our Care Act, a bill to prevent abortion and gender-affirming care from becoming casualties during hospital mergers. When the bill came through the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, he broke with the other Democrats who recommended “do pass” and filed a minority report with a “no recommendation.” 

Demyan said she would support the bill and plans to if she’s elected. 

The Jackson Legacy Fund did not respond to The Stranger’s request for comment. 

Challenging the Charter School Champ

Demyan also distinguishes herself from Springer in her support for public education. 

After the state supreme court ruled the state’s charter school law unconstitutional in 2015, Springer counted himself among the few Democrats to align with Republicans to save the institution. He didn’t stop there. In 2021, Springer co-sponsored bills that would increase the number of charter schools in the state and award those schools $1,550 in public funds per student. The bills failed, but Demyan wouldn’t have signed onto them in the first place. She vows not to spend one public dollar on private or charter schools.

Instead, she wants to focus on complying with the state supreme court’s 2012 McCleary order to fully fund K-12 education. School districts face program cuts, layoffs, and school closures as inflation, enrollment decline, and the end of one-time federal funding make it more difficult to balance their budgets, according to the Seattle Times. If elected, Denyam would support efforts to raise the lid on the school levy to raise more money for education. To help ease the burden of that regressive taxation, she would like to pass new streams of progressive revenue so the ultra-wealthy contribute more to education and other important public goods. 

Demyan didn’t name a specific tax, but she wanted to assure voters that progressive taxes would target very few constituents in the 45th. 

Her savvy on public education earned her the support of local teachers unions, including Lake Washington Education Association (LWEA) and the Northshore Education Association. LWEA member and Demyan supporter Shaina Langley said that teachers felt very lucky to finally have a choice between two Democrats, rather than between Springer and a Republican. She spoke positively about working with Springer over the past years, but Langley said the membership ultimately resonated more with Demyan, who appeared stronger in her support of public schools. 

Doing Right by Renters

If elected, Demyan would be one of the few renters in the State Legislature, which is full of landlords, landlord-sympathizers, and some cool homeowners like Rep. Nicole Macri and state Sen. Patty Kuderer. Shout out. In any event, Demyan said she would use her perspective as a renter to promote tenant protections, something Springer has failed to do. 

Springer’s landlord-friendly views might emerge from the fact that he makes between $0 and $30,000 in rental income as a landlord, according to disclosures. He owns four single family homes—one in Kirkland with an estimated value of $1.3 million, one in Everett with an estimated value of $620,000, and two in Leavenworth with estimated values of around $400,000 each, according to Redfin and Zillow. 

He might be forgiven for hoarding houses if he didn’t so ardently represent the interests of the powerful landlord lobby. He cosponsored a failed attempt to kill the COVID-19 eviction moratorium in January of 2021. Before that, he was one of five House Democrats to side with Republicans and vote against a bill to give tenants 14 days instead of three to pay or vacate before kicking off eviction proceedings. 

Overall, Demyan believes Springer largely succeeds due to name recognition stemming from his 20 years in office, but if voters start to hear his record alongside his name, they won’t keep him around. She hopes that if they win, then more young progressives will challenge incumbent Democrats so their majority–and the supermajority the party is working toward–actually means something.

“A supermajority doesn't matter if we still have folks like Springer holding us back with politics from 20 years ago,” Demyan said. “We need to continue expanding our margins, but we also need to elect folks who have the vision for the next 20 years.”