Sarah Reyneveld is a WFSE member, a working mother of two, an assistant attorney general, and a candidate for State Representative in Washington’s 36th District. We caught up with her to discuss why it’s critical for public employees to participate in the political process and why her campaign is all about working folks.
“I’ve spent my entire fifteen-year career working for the people of our state, and I’m running for the State House now to make our government work for the people and to create a future we can all believe in,” she said.
Reyneveld, former Political Director of the 36th District Democrats, also helped Washington’s assistant attorneys general organize with WFSE and secure collective bargaining rights through the state legislature. Her local, the Association of Washington Assistant Attorneys General, is part of a wave of attorneys that have chosen to join WFSE.
“I’ve seen what winning our right to collectively bargain has done for AAGs, so I want to fight to expand the union footprint and ensure that we protect workers and their rights.”
Building union strength is only one part of Reyneveld’s vision for Washington. Reyneveld wants to protect working people, tackle climate change, expand health care access and housing, make our tax code fair, and prioritize fully funding education. She says it’s about creating a system that works for everyone.
“As a working mom with two kids, I understand the challenges that working families face because I’ve walked the walk,” she said.
“I understand how challenging it is to afford child care—even as an attorney, real wages aren’t going far enough, and there is a deficit every month because it’s hard to pay for the cost of a mortgage in Seattle. Working families are really struggling, and it’s not a story that people tell enough.”
Reyneveld was drawn to public service out of a desire to make a real difference in the lives of Washingtonians, especially those who have not traditionally been fairly represented in state systems. As an AAG, Reyneveld strives to make sure that working people are fairly paid for the work they do and that legal protections for workers are enforced.
She is ready to bring her fifteen-year career as an advocate and public service worker to Olympia.
“We need strong representation to be a real voice and tackle the issues of public safety, getting our economy up and running, and ensuring that we’re creating a more sustainable and equitable future for everyone,” she said.
Reyneveld believes political engagement is critical for the future of union members, working families, and marginalized communities.
“Being involved in the political process is so important right now because we’re at this turning point in the legislature where we can either make further deep cuts or we can pass new revenue and invest in workers and our economy. Hopefully, we can reduce the numbers of cuts that are made,” she said, echoing calls for a fairer tax system in Washington.
Take Action: Tell Washington legislators to put people first and invest in public services. Instead of cutting services, lawmakers should require wealthy billionaires to contribute their fair share.
“We need to ensure that the wealthiest Washingtonians are paying their fair share,” she said.
“We need to modernize our tax system so that the next time we have a recession, it’s not exacerbating inequities in our most vulnerable populations and among working people. Folks like myself who are progressive and want to make change have to stand up and demand that we raise new revenue.”
Reyneveld’s campaign for state representative has been endorsed by WFSE, the Washington Education Association, the Washington Conservation Voters (whose board she served on), UAW Local 4121 (who represented her as she worked through graduate and law school at the University of Washington), Washington State Senator Joe Nguyen (whose work on revenue she wants to join), Attorney General Bob Ferguson (her boss of eight years) and many more.
Check out the full roster of candidates democratically endorsed by WFSE. Click here to learn more about supporting efforts to elect pro-union candidates, fixing our broken tax system, and stopping service and job cuts.
