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Edmonds City Counclmember and small business attorney Jenna Nand on Wednesday announced her campaign for State House in the 32nd Legislative District.
She is running for the seat being vacated by Cindy Ryu, who announced her intention to run for the 32nd District Senate seat held by Jesse Salomon.
According to a news release announcing her campaign, Nand said she is focused on ensuring equitable access to health care, solving the region’s affordability crisis, expanding access to education, enacting “real change in Olympia to end homelessness,” and building climate resiliency.
“As the youngest Edmonds City Councilmember and a small business attorney, I am a champion for hard working people in our community.” Nand said.
“I know what many families are going through because I’ve lived it myself. I spent 10 years as a caregiver for my terminally ill father before he passed in April of 2025 and navigated a broken social services system to save a loved one who almost lost his life due to addiction. Now, I’m battling breast cancer. Despite everything, I’ve never stopped fighting. I’ve triumphed over every challenge I’ve faced and I will keep fighting for our shared values in Olympia.”
In her announcement, Nand said she is building a grassroots campaign that will include those who are too often left out of the conversation to Olympia – working-class families, caregivers, people with disabilities, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
Nand, who lives in Edmonds’ Lake Ballinger neighborhood, noted that she “was raised in a union household in Edmonds and Shoreline by immigrant parents from the Fiji Islands.” A graduate from Edmonds College and the University of Washington, Nand said she has a lifelong commitment to working people and organized labor and deep roots in the 32nd Legislative District, having spent the majority of her life here since 1990.
She lists endorsements from Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, 48th District State Senator Vandana Slatter, Lynnwood City Councilmember and Mayor-Elect George Hurst, Shoreline City Councilmember Eben Pobee, and Lynnwood City Councilmember-Elect Bryce Carl Owings.
Learn more at voteforjenna.com.
Thank you for sharing our campaign announcement!
Jenna is truly a great person I will be forever grateful for all that she has done for me. Without Jenna I don’t believe that I’d be alive today she helped me find the resources to deal with my addiction.
Rob, you are my brother and I’m so glad that you joined our family to help take care of Dad. It’s been an honor to help you become clean and sober. I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished over the last eight years. 🙂
Are you resigning your Edmonds City Council seat so the voters have an opportunity elect a new engaged member or you holding your position in case you do not win the state seat???
Don Giles are you really so unkind to make such a disgusting comment to Jenna? You are entitled to disagree with council members decisions but your comments are cruel and unnecessary.
Hey Roxie. What is your problem with my question? Please explain. I’m asking a simple question that I think deserves an answer. If you want to pick a fight and pretend fake outrage pick another battle as there is nothing cruel or disgusting about my question. I think the community deserves an answer. During these difficult times the community also deserves a City Council that is all in and engaged in city business and not a placeholder that is a fall back position in case not successful in pursuit of a higher statewide position.
Not an unreasonable question and should not be a hard one to answer……. Unless it is.
Thank you for your support, Roxie. You would not believe how ugly some of the comments have been on my simple campaign announcement. Some people have chosen to call me a “Somalian agent,” a “gimmigrant,” an “ungrateful witch,” etc. I didn’t see the other two candidates in the race face this kind of divisiveness when they declared their candidacies for the open seat in the state house. Whenever anyone choses to direct that kind of hatred towards me just because I’m seeking a leadership position and they don’t like my skin color or my gender, it just motivates me to keep working that much harder to win. I don’t want people who are guided by bigotry and bias to make the decisions for our community; I want a future for all of us where people who work hard and try to do the right thing can succeed. And I think that the majority of the voters in our community agree with me. I am going to keep standing up for what I believe in and do what I think is right.
Jenna it is sad to find disrespectful and frankly ignorant people here in our beautiful town. I know how hard you work for our community. You are doing the right thing. Stay strong and keep up a good fight.
Thanks, Roxie, I appreciate your kind words! Happy holidays!
Wow CM Nand. Really??? Whatever ugly comments you have heard were not on this string of comments and if true sorry to hear that. I asked a simple question that many Edmonds residents would like to know. If you prefer to deflect, save it for those that are spreading the vile comments you are referring to on whatever platform you are seeing those comments. It was not me and it was not here. I’m just asking a simple question that many voters would like to know. It’s the same question I would ask of any current Edmond’s CM that was running for another office that overlaps with their current term. It’s obviously is an uncomfortable question for you to answer and you certainly don’t have to answer here but you better get your story straight because it is a question that you will have to address.
Happy Holidays and How about those Seahawks!!
Think Don Giles asked the question many of us would like to hear the answer. So…what is the answer?
Don your comment about her was indicating she is only being a placeholder. I know she works very hard to understand what is truly going on with our city. This is how I read it. And no I’m not wanting to pick a fight. I just feel the words you chose were unkind. Have a nice holiday.
Thank you for defending me, Roxie, I hope you and I can grab coffee sometime! People like you make our community a better place to live. Happy holidays to your family and you! 🙂
It seems to me this is much to do about nothing. I do not know Don Giles but he asked a legitimate question. And his supposition about why Jenna is not leaving her council position is obviously correct. She could leave her council position now and the council could immediately name a replacement, or she has the right to do what she is doing – remain in her council seat in case she loses in the state election. History indicates that’s not an unreasonable thing for her to do.
There should be already established rules about the rules for running for CC. So first has anyone on CC ever run for a state or county election while holding a CC seat here in Edmonds in Snohomish County. I do remember clearly that Diane Could not stay on CC when she ran for Mayor against Nelson. She wasn’t allowed to come back or anything. So, I think people actually running for an another important elected gov body should resign the moment they put their hats in the ring. If this is not a rule it should be. Nothing against Ms. Nand at all but seems like the city should tell us or our Mayor our CC. People who are really in the know. And if this has happened before who and when like name and year etc. Merry Christmas.
Deborah:
It is legal to run for a different elected position while being an Edmonds council member. Diane chose to run for mayor while still retaining her council position. She was not elected and could not then return to her council position because her term had expired.
A problem we do have is people legally retaining two elected positions. For example Strom Peterson being a state representative as well as a member of the Snohomish county council. He cannot be in Olympia when the legislature is meeting and also at the same time in Everett. He receives approximately $200,000 annually for these two jobs and the taxpayers are being ripped off.
Thank you Ron Wambolt. I didn’t know thank you for the info. I guess I do it a little bit I didn’t realize but should have remembered that. Yeah about Strom…I hope you had a Merry Christmas Ron.
Here is a direct quote of what CM Nand said in the Edmonds Beacon this week:
“I do not intend to give up my council seat if I lose,” she said, “nor do I plan to
leave council early to focus on the election, since many other state legislators were
able to balance campaigning for their statehouse seats while still serving on their lo-
cal city councils.
“I do not believe that my campaign for the state house seat will interfere with my service to the people of Edmonds in 2026. I would only give up my City Council seat if I won the state House seat, and then only at the end of 2026, so I could focus on serving in the state legislature in 2027.”
Joan, Thanks for that. Did not seem like a hard question for CM NAND to answer considering she already addressed that question with the Beacon. Frankly her response and position she expressed to the Beacon is a reasonable position and while debatable is defendable. Creating drama when there is none is not defendable nor is it a good leadership trait and very immature. Thanks again for the info from the Beacon.
It is puzzling why CM Nand can provide this information to the Beacon but not to this publication when asked by people commenting.
Don, you’re welcome. Ron, puzzling to me too.
Politics an ugly game. Sorry you received Messages or something that were hurtful? No one else seems to have seen this stuff anywhere so maybe Emails to CC or something? I don’t care if you run for the state legislature position or not. Your CC term expires December 31st 2027. So that will mean you won’t be running for Edmonds CC beginning in 2026?
Politics regardless of whether its local, state, national or anywhere in the world Is hateful hurtful sometimes true and sometimes not and there are always bigots, supporters and non-supporters and rioters and just nosy folks. Some pay no attention at all and probably vote incorrectly because of it. This to me is why discussion, transparency people willing to look at both sides are so important. This mail or whatever You received isn’t that considered hate mail or illegal or something you tell me you’re the attorney. The higher you try to go in political office the uglier it gets it looks like from news here and everywhere. Or is it news? Its opinion mainly and yeah there are people with some ugly opinions that are uh hurtful to others. There are liars and there are people who are great with manipulation. It’s said that people distrust politicians and lawyers more than any profession. It appears to be true. Good Luck
Thanks, Deborah, I appreciate your kind words, as always!