CENTRALIA…A District Court judge’s gerrymandering in favor of Democrats claimed another victim Monday. Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-Wenatchee, will not seek reelection. Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, had this to say:
“I want to extend my appreciation to Senator Hawkins for his many years of service to the people of the 12th Legislative District, first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. Brad’s commitment to public service will have a lasting impact on his constituents.
“As the ranking Republican on the Senate’s committee on K-12 education, Brad has been a champion for school boards around Washington to have more local control. He criticized repeated Democratic efforts to make the Legislature act as the ‘great school board in the sky’ when they wanted to impose statewide unfunded mandates that served an agenda that many communities did not support.
“The power play on behalf of Democrats that unjustly challenged the redistricting maps approved by the bipartisan Redistricting Commission has pushed another valuable legislator out of office.”