Gael Tarleton, who’s been a member of the Port of Seattle Commission since 2007 has announced she’s running for the 36th District legislative seat being vacated with the retirement of veteran State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle).
“I have been watching the education cuts and watching the challenges to women’s rights that we thought were settled 35 years ago, and just decided that I wanted my voice to be heard,” she said in her March 12 announcement.
Tarleton, a Democrat, has been president of the five-member Port Commission since January and is in the first year of her second four-year term as an elected official on the port board.
A Massachusetts native and Georgetown University graduate, she works at the University of Washington’s Institute for National Security Education and Research, which specializes in issues of public safety and national security policy.
With her announcement, she becomes just the latest commissioner to attempt to jump from the port to higher office. Last year John Creighton, a commissioner since 2006, ran for the King County Council, but was defeated and remains on the port board.