Our endorsement for the 37th Legislative District Position 1 is Kelabe Tewolde! Tewolde has a life's experience and working-class politics that are as rooted in the 37th as they come. Looking to challenge incumbent Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, Tewolde offers a boldly progressive and grassroots alternative for the district.  

Tewolde is another younger, progressive challenger looking to replace a 28-year incumbent and shake up the status quo in Olympia. Raised in Seattle by an Eritrean refugee single mother, Tewolde grew up in an immigrant household that faced challenges of poverty, housing insecurity, and medical debt. 

Having witnessed similar struggles by his students in the Rainier Scholars program who live in the 37th, as well as his friends and relatives, Tewolde was inspired to seek public office for the sake and well-being of his community. 

The housing and cost-of-living crisis in his district, like much of the region, is a top priority for the candidate. In particular, with the Central District and other historical South End neighborhoods having had residents displaced for decades due to gentrification, Tewolde is looking to enact the changes needed from within the state legislature. 

In 2025, Rep. Santos voted against HB 1217, a rent stabilization bill (now law) that caps increases at 10% in a 12-month period. In a district that’s majority renters, Tewolde questions whether Rep. Santos has the best interests of her working-class constituents at heart. Even a 10% increase each year, Tewolde believes, is still too high for most people to afford in the 37th. 

But that isn’t the only objection the candidate has with Rep. Santos’ voting record. As the House Education Committee chair, Santos also voted in favor of cutting 2,000 slots from the Transition to Kindergarten program proposed by Gov. Ferguson. 

As an educator himself, Tewolde is gravely concerned with (and also well-versed in) how underserved communities, like those in the 37th, are impacted by a lack of state and local investment, and how access to early education is so instrumental in determining life outcomes and other social issues like crime. 

He also has substantial evidence to back his concerns: a 2010 study found that children who fail to read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school; and the World Literacy Foundation found that over 70% of the US incarcerated population are below a fourth-grade reading level. 

Equity and inclusion in education is another issue he cares about, and Tewolde is staunchly against the two anti-LGBTQIA+ ballot measures coming up in November. 

Yet Tewolde is also not at all shy about having the more practical, albeit loaded, conversation around “how are we going to pay for it?” given Washington’s near $500 million revenue shortfall. Rep. Shawn Scott’s decision to pursue the Millionaires’ Tax (which won’t start receiving money until 2029) instead of the Well Washington fund seemed unnecessary to Tewolde, because, as he puts it, “Why not pursue both?” He notes that the Well Washington fund would have brought money to education sooner, while the Millionaires’ Tax will take time to kick in. 

He also has ideas for how the state can rebalance its tax structure and the B&O taxes that he says have caused so many small businesses to leave. For the candidate, conversations around funding and revenue have too often been used as a cudgel for politicians not to deliver on vital social services, especially for marginalized populations. To him, the threats of “businesses leaving” if there are higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations has been proven false in other places. like New York City and New Jersey and Massachusetts, where the number of millionaires has increased since its millionaire tax in 2023.

“When we start to focus on corporate interests over people, we lose,” Tewolde said.

Overall, Kelabe Tewolde has many well-thought out plans for how he hopes to tackle the slate of issues the 37th District and Washington residents are dealing with. Ultimately, what we found most appealing about him is his commitment to put everybody people over the interests of the Seattle’s most affluent and powerful. 

“Howard Schultz is not my barometer of success for the city. Working class people are who we want to prioritize,” he said. 

Vote Tewolde.