Kritzer glides in LD-45 state house race as GOP opponent fails to campaign
As Election Day approaches, Vanessa Kritzer, the Democratic candidate for the Position 2 state house seat in 45th legislative district, is publicly outlining her ideas and meeting with voters. Her opponent, Republican John Gibbons, has barely campaigned and offered very little public information for voters to consider.
Kritzer, who is currently a Redmond City Council member, is running for an open seat. The 45th legislative district includes Sammamish, Redmond, Duvall, and parts of Kirkland. This year, it will see a new representative after state Rep. Larry Springer announced that he will not seek reelection after almost two decades in Olympia.
In typical years, open seats are usually more contested. But Kritzer’s opponent has barely registered a heartbeat. In the pre-election voter pamphlet mailed to all households, Gibbons’ candidate profile is all blank, with no photo, candidate statement or website. Gibbons also did not respond to multiple requests for an interview from the Sammamish Independent.
Kritzer said she entered politics after graduating from college in 2008, when she joined a Democratic National Committee field operation that worked to elect Barack Obama as president. She later moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked on U.S. policy toward Latin America, as well as border and immigration issues, for an advocacy organization called Latin America Working Group.
“That was a really impactful experience for me because I was able to see what it looks like to be able to kind of organize for change at that international and national scale,” Kritzer said in an interview. “But one thing that I realized when I did that was that I wanted to be able to have a little more impact close to home.”
Kritzer eventually returned to the other Washington, her home state, and entered local politics. Spending nearly a decade working on Redmond’s city council and planning commission, Kritzer focused on housing affordability, transportation and environmental issues. She pointed to her work on the Redmond 2050 Comprehensive Plan, the City’s Environmental Sustainability Action Plan and Housing Action Plan as accomplishments that she is particularly proud of.
For Kritzer, one of the main reasons behind her campaign is about preparing the district for the challenges she believes lie ahead. Among the most important are affordability, transportation and education. One of her biggest priorities is making sure the state invests in a broader framework for public K-12 education.
“Being able to provide educational support that addresses special education needs, language needs, the things that we know about how kids learn best and thrive best, like social, emotional learning and other types of support, is really key,” said Kritzer.
Kritzer also pushes for increased interaction and spending in climate policy. During the interview, she expressed support for Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. It is funded through the state’s cap and investment program, which is meant to cut corporate carbon emissions and invest money back into environmental protection. Kritzer said she wants the legislature to ensure that those revenues are spent on environmental resilience projects as originally intended.
“I just feel like the voters, especially when they rejected the repeal of the Climate Commitment Act, they put their trust in us to spend the dollars from those revenues into climate,” Kritzer said.
Kritzer believes Washington state is in a tricky position regarding its current budget, but she said she is prepared for the challenge after helping Redmond face a $20 million deficit during the COVID-19 pandemic. She believes that ultimately the budget comes down to prioritizing important public goods and services that have the most impact on communities.
“Making sure that what we’re investing in aligns with their priorities and making sure that they have an input into these processes,” Kritzer said.
When asked about the first problem she would tackle in Olympia if elected, Kritzer pointed to childcare affordability and accessibility.
“I think probably one of the issues that I would really like to work the most on would be addressing the accessibility and affordability of childcare because we don’t have very many parents of young children in the legislature who are actually paying childcare and are thinking about these topics,” said Kritzer.
Vanessa Kritzer is running for state representative in the 45th legislative district. To find out more about her, visit her campaign website. Election Day is November 3, 2026.
