Deken Letinich, a Democratic candidate running for the 18th District state representative first position seat against Republican incumbent Stephanie McClintock, seeks to champion the needs of working families.
A lifelong resident of Clark County, Letinich currently serves as an organizer and assistant political and legislative director for the Washington and Northern Idaho District Council of Laborers. His work involves recruitment, advocacy and lobbying on behalf of labor issues.
In 2018, he was awarded the title of “Washington’s Union Member of the Year” for his political advocacy, particularly his efforts to protect the rights of construction workers. During the last legislative session, he successfully advocated for two bills to enhance workplace safety and increase access to healthcare products on worksites. Letinich plans to leverage this experience if elected to represent his district.
“It really inspired me to know that if you're willing to just work towards the greater good with people in Olympia, regardless of what party backs them, you can get meaningful work done for the people that need it in a quick and beneficial way,” Letinich said.
One of his primary legislative goals is to develop a stronger workforce in southwest Washington while ensuring worker protections. He prioritizes securing as much infrastructure funding from the state as possible to enhance infrastructure and promote local workforce growth. Letinich also strongly advocates for completing the Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program to improve pedestrian and traffic flow.
“We’re always looking to encourage workplace project growth for the area, and we do a lot of outreach advocacy to recruit for our apprenticeship programs because we believe that we need to start training the next generation of workers sooner rather than later,” Letinich said.
In addition, Letinich said he will advocate for increased state funding for education if elected. As well, he supports legislation that makes child care more affordable and accessible in southwest Washington. He stressed that child care has become a bigger issue for working families.
“When we were young parents, I was working two jobs,” Letinich recalled. “There were many nights at 8:30 p.m. when I was desperately calling high school friends, older sisters, just praying that I would be able to drop my daughter off with them at 6:30 a.m. the next morning so I could go to work while my wife was out of town on a trip as a flight attendant. I think if we can eliminate that scenario from people's day-to-day [lives] and make it easier to find reliable, trustworthy child care, we're only benefiting all working families.”
As the Nov. 5 general election nears, Letinich said he will continue a phone and door-to-door campaign and hopes his connection to working families will garner support. In the primary election Aug. 20 results, Letinich received 19,138 votes (44.63%), while McClintock secured 23,739 votes (55.37%).
“I think the results showed that we still have work to do,” Letinich said. “But for a first-time candidate going against, really, the only incumbent in the 18th [District], I think our numbers showed that people are supportive, and we’ve just gotta do the work to get more people voting in the general election.”
For more information, people can reach Letinich’s campaign at 360-567-7417, by emailing info@ElectDeken.com or visiting electdeken.com.
