42nd District: Rule seeks re-election against GOP challenger Pelletti for state House
State Rep. Alicia Rule and Raymond Pelletti of Blaine are facing each other in the Nov. 5 general election, after they finished first and second in the Aug. 6 primary.
Rule had 47% of the vote to Pelletti’s 46%.
Rule, a Democrat, is seeking a third straight two-year term for the 42nd Legislative District House Position 1, one of two House seats in the 42nd District, which includes the northern neighborhoods of Bellingham and the northern part of Whatcom County.
Voters in the 42nd District elected three Democrats to the Legislature in 2022, taking control of a district that had been represented by Republicans for more than a decade.
Raymond Pelletti
Blaine real estate broker and appraiser Raymond Pelletti is seeking the 42nd District House seat as a Republican.
At his campaign website, Pelletti said he is a U.S. Air Force veteran, who “has always prioritized serving his country and community.” He is a member and former president of the Whatcom County Association of Realtors, and a former board member of Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center and the state Make-A-Wish Foundation.
According to his website, Pelletti is focused on public safety, the economy, and social issues such as his opposition to abortion and gender-affirming care for minors.
He addressed that issue in a closing statement at the Aug. 28 Bellingham City Club election forum.
“I have three kids, I have 11 grandkids. I just want to make sure that my granddaughters have freedom to go into their bathrooms and be safe, have the freedom to go to their schools and be safe, and they ought to be able to play in their sports through all their career without having to compete against a biological male.
He said he supports Initiative 2109 on Nov. 5 ballot, which would repeal the capital gains tax on the sale of stock and bonds over $250,000. That tax money is ued to fund school construction and early childhood education.
Pelletti also criticized building regulations that he said drive up the cost of housing construction.
“The way we fix this is we need to go back into our local communities and change how lots are developed, how builders have to go through the permitting process and try to keep the costs down to build,” he said.
He is endorsed by the Whatcom Republicans, the local party organization, and former Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo and former state Rep. Luanne Van Werven.
Pelletti raised $20,684 for his election bid, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Of his contributions, $14,000 came from the party caucus, and $1,250 from the party. About $2,093 came from individual contributions.
Alicia Rule
Alicia Rule, who has served in the state House since 2020, is a social worker and a therapist in private practice. She’s also a former member of the Blaine City Council and founder and former head of the Blaine Downtown Development Association.
In her first year in the House, Rule worked to secure funding and commitments to support small businesses and farmers that became part of a $20 million budget proviso for a statewide program to assist small businesses recovering from the November 2021 flooding, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
In the most recent legislative session, Rule sponsored House Bill to extend a tax preference for dairy, fruit and vegetable and seafood processors statewide. It would help food producers thrive, Rule said during floor discussion on the measure.
“We produce some of the very best food in the world right in our own backyard and across Washington. It’s critical that we stay competitive in the global market and keep our locally produced food products as affordable as possible right here at home. With grocery prices skyrocketing as they have, my priority was and will continue to be to work to keep costs down and local food on the table,” Rule told The Bellingham Herald in an email. Her priorities for the next legislative session, she’s planning to introduce a diaper tax exemption.
“Good hard-working families are struggling to keep the lights on and that will continue to be my focus and priority until this pressure eases up along with fighting for protecting and creating good paying union jobs, and creating opportunities for more local businesses to be better supported and thrive in our community.” Rule said. In addition, Rule told The Herald that “reproductive choice and freedom continues to be of critical importance at the state level and I am working on multiple bills to protect access to birth control, protecting IVF, and ensuring women maintain decision making over their own bodies.”
She’s also been a leader on public safety and behavioral health issues, forming a caucus to promote this issues.
“We believe we need to do better in addressing both violent crime and property crime because it’s vulnerable people who are traumatized and impacted the hardest by these crimes,” Rule said.
At an Aug. 28 Bellingham City Club, Rule discussed how government can encourage housing development for a range of income levels and laws that passed n the most recent legislative session the make it easier to build small apartment buildings and duplexes in residential neighborhoods.
“We do need to get those regulations streamlined, there’s no question about that. We’ve made some actually pretty significant progress at the state level (but) we need to also at the same time put some local pressure on. There’s not a rule that you can’t build a single-family home, but there is now more flexibility on what you can do on your lot,” Rule said.
At her website, Rule is endorsed by several dozen statewide and local elected leaders, Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and a range of labor unions, including those representing the skilled trades, teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses. She’s also backed by business interests such as the Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Realtors, and the Association of Washington Businesses. Further support comes from the 42nd District Democrats, Planned Parenthood , and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
Rule’s primary opponent Janet Melman, a Democrat who finished third with 8% of the vote, is also endorsing her.
She has raised $451,026 for her re-election bid, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. About $90,000 came from political action committees, $101,000 from the Democratic Party and $19,285 in individual contributions.
