Challenger Tami Green (left) and Senator Steve O’Ban.

Though it’s still in the early phases, the upcoming race in Tacoma’s 28th district between Rep. Tami Green (D) and Sen. Steve O’Ban (R) is shaping up to be one of the closer, interesting races this year, as off-year races go.

O’Ban was elected to the House in 2012, and was appointed to the Senate after six months when Republican Sen. Mike Carrell died in office. The race is being followed closely, as the Majority Coalition Caucus, which includes the entire Republican Caucus and two Democrats, controls the upper chamber of the Legislature with only a two vote majority. The Republicans would like to defend the majority, whereas the Democrats are seeking to regain control. So there’s a conflict there, naturally.

“He was only elected in 2012 to be in the House, so he’s only just finishing his first term, frankly,” says Green. “I don’t think he has enough experience. Typically the pattern in our district has been that somebody serves in the House for a period of time, 10 years or so, and then they go to the senate. When you go to the senate, you need to know where things are; you need to know who’s who. It takes a while to build relationships. Being successful in the legislature is all about building relationships.”

Green sees the race in terms of the contrasting communities being served, and where the candidates various priorities lay. “Senator O’Ban is a nice man, but we just have very different philosophical points of view, to our priorities,” says Green. “My priorities are middle class priorities, clean air, green stuff, and I’m not saying his priorities are wrong, they’re just not my priorities. His priorities are about small government, low taxes, and doing the best you can for business. Some of those things are important to me, too, but they’re not my priorities.” “This will be an election of contrasts,” says Sen. O’Ban. “Tami and I do come from a different perspective on government. We do have our records, and she of course has a longer one, but both our records show a different approach.” One of O’Ban’s top priorities is greater education spending with reforms. “I’m going to be looking for ways to do that without reflexively raising taxes. I think Tami has voted for just about every tax increase that’s been proposed there in the House.”

O’Ban sees the key issues as strengthening schools, jobs, helping veterans transition, and transportation, particularly the JBLM/I-5 corridor. “I can get stuff through and done in a bipartisan way. I’ve been down there all of two sessions, and only one as a senator, and I had a pretty good session.” O’Ban cites pushing legislation which helps veterans get college credit for training in the military, and getting funding for a law school at the UW campus in Tacoma. “It really brought a lot of vibrancy and interest to the Tacoma downtown corridor. That’s the kind of thing that in the mid to long term is going to create more living wage jobs.” The candidates’ backgrounds are as different as their politics, to an extent. Green, 54, has worked as a nurse for over 30 years, and currently works with the Franciscan Healthcare system at St. Joesph’s hospital in Tacoma. “As a nurse,” says Green, “your main role is to advocate for your patients, so that wasn’t a hard translation, to go from advocating for your patients to advocating for the people of your district.” In 2000, she ran and lost to Rep. Mike Carrell, and ran again in 2004 against Carrell’s appointed replacement after he went to the senate. “I beat him by only 225 votes,” says Green, laughing.

A Republican elected to the House in 2012, and later appointed to the senate after Carrell’s passing, O’Ban, 52, is an attorney working at a small general practice firm, and primarily represents small businesses and nonprofits, which he’s been doing for 26 years. “Politics is something relatively new in my life experience,” says O’Ban. “I also have a wife of 27 years. Almost 27 years?” he says, laughing as he checks with his wife in the car.

O’Ban cites his business experience as core to his approach. “Bringing that private sector experience, and understanding the challenges that primary job creators have in our state is really important,” says O’Ban. “We really need more people like that, frankly, in Olympia, who’ve run a small business. I run a small business as a partner in a law firm. We have 25 employees and pay living wage jobs, benefits. I think my opponent has never run a business, and she’s been in the legislature for a long time now.”

Both have connections with the military which inform their political life. Green grew up in a military family and has a husband in the military as well. “Being in the shadows of JBLM, and now with the redistricting I represent the entire JBLM and Camp Murray,” says Green. “I do represent them and I try to make sure that we try and take care of them, that we’re good neighbors.” O’Ban has two sons in the military, and reaches out as well. “We have a number of active military and retiring military, relatively young, that are leaving the military and want to stay in Washington state, and relocate in my district. One of the focuses I’ve had is helping them in that transition, as the military downsizes.”

To date, Green has raised $60,015.57, with a few of the highest contributions coming from the Kennedy Fund, the Washington Education Association, and the Committee to Elect Tami Green. O’Ban has doubled that with $127,609.61. Some of his highest contributors include the CenturyLink Washington Pac, the Credit Union Legislative Action Fund, and the Justice for All Pac.

A recent ad by the Good Government Leadership Council, which is funded by Senate Republicans, has ratcheted up tensions well before the election. It suggests that Green has taken hundreds of thousands over the years from special interests groups, and has earned a fine and an ethics violation. The ad also features a Wheel of Fortune-styled graphic displaying various random words (seemingly as prizes), including “She’s Changed” and “Pay Raise” and “$1 Billion Tax Increase.”

Green wasn’t too impressed with the ad. “They flashed up a bunch of stuff that you can’t really see, and you don’t know what they’re referring to… Obviously I’ve been in office for ten years, and occasionally I’ll do something wrong. We all do, we’re not perfect,” says Green, chuckling. “But I own the things I’ve done wrong.” Green mentions that the ethics complaint was very minor, dealing with writing letter on state paper instead of her own, and that the PDC fine was early on when she messed up on her filing.

“It’s definitely getting nasty. I’ve never had a negative ad in April,” says Green.

“I feel Tami’s pain,” says O’Ban. “The last two elections when I ran, the unions that are going to be heavy in support of Tami spent over $300,000 against me in negative TV ads and mailers, so I was bombarded with that stuff the last two election cycles. I’m sure I will be on the receiving end with even more intensity. It goes with the territory.”

That territory is plenty open for exploring with the election several months away.

“For me it’s about helping people to become politically active,” says Green. “I mean, I want to win, but, you know, I try to change the world while I’m winning.”

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