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Karen Porterfield
Karen Porterfield was a Democratic candidate for Washington commissioner of public lands in the 2016 elections.[1] She was defeated in the primary election.
She was also a 2012 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 8th Congressional District of Washington. She lost in the general election on November 6, 2012.[2]
Biography
Born in Washington state, Porterfield graduated from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Western Washington University and a master of public administration from Seattle University.
Porterfield has been a faculty member at Seattle University since 2001, teaching graduate level classes in public administration. She has also traveled abroad as a visiting professor and guest lecturer to the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and the Da Nang University of Technology in Da Nang, Vietnam.[3] From 1988 to 2001, she served as the director of development for The Salvation Army, and as the vice president of the United Way of King County from 2001 to 2003.[4]
Education
- B.A., political science, Western Washington University (1980)
- M.P.A., Seattle University (2000)
Elections
2016
- Main article: Washington Natural Resources Commissioner election, 2016
Porterfield filed to run as a Democratic candidate in the 2016 election for Washington commissioner of public lands. She competed with four other Democrats, one Republican, and one Libertarian in the August 2 top-two primary election.[1] Porterfield was defeated in the primary election by former Naval Commander Steve McLaughlin (R) and attorney Hilary Franz (D).
The following candidates ran in the Washington primary for natural resources commissioner.
| Washington primary for natural resources commissioner, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Steve McLaughlin |
37.95% | 494,416 | |
| Democratic | Hilary Franz |
22.80% | 297,074 | |
| Democratic | Dave Upthegrove | 14.12% | 183,976 | |
| Democratic | Mary Verner | 12.25% | 159,564 | |
| Libertarian | Steven Nielson | 4.84% | 63,056 | |
| Democratic | Karen Porterfield | 4.74% | 61,710 | |
| Democratic | John Stillings | 3.31% | 43,129 | |
| Total Votes | 1,302,925 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign finance
| Karen Porterfield Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| To date | As of August 2, 2016 | $ | $128,922.44 | $(106,380.56) | $ | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $128,922.44 | $(106,380.56) | ||||||||
2012
Porterfield ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Washington's 8th District. She and incumbent Dave Reichert (R) advanced past the August 7, 2012, blanket primary, defeating Keith Arnold (D), Ernest Huber (R), Keith Swank (R), and James Windle (I). They faced off again in the general election on November 6, 2012.[5][6][7] Reichert won.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dave Reichert Incumbent |
59.7% | 180,204 | |
| Democratic | Karen Porterfield | 40.3% | 121,886 | |
| Total Votes | 302,090 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Dave Reichert (R) Incumbent |
50.6% | 66,220 |
| Karen Porterfield (D) |
28.3% | 37,083 |
| Keith Swank (R) | 8.4% | 10,942 |
| Keith Arnold (D) | 5.5% | 7,144 |
| James Windle (Unaffiliated) | 4% | 5,269 |
| Ernest Huber (R) | 3.2% | 4,165 |
| Total Votes | 130,823 | |
Issues
Porterfield on: Agriculture
- "I will work with the agriculture producers in the State to support the on-going success of this vital industry. An effective transportation system that helps farmers get their produce to markets, a guest worker visa program to help supply labor needed, and export policies that supports sales of our agricultural harvests are critical to the economy of our state. Farmers are lifeblood of this state and our country, and it is crucial we listen to their needs and support their success."[8]
Healthcare
- "Our system must be focused on prevention and early treatment and make use of the medical home model and electronic record keeping, all of which has been repeatedly proven to reduce health care costs while improving health. We also need the government to offer universal health insurance to everyone based on Medicare. Individuals deserve to have choices, both from private insurers and a government plan. With the low overhead of the current government health programs, this can ensure that with a government plan that the individuals premiums will go towards their health care, not for insurance companies profit. Any future plans, including a single payer program, must be designed at a cost affordable to the individual and society."[9]
Immigration
- " A key goal of any immigration reform will be to ensure border security while allowing people the opportunity to contribute to America’ and become active, productive citizens, starting a new chapter in their family story.
In the short term we can start immigration reform by creating a modern worker visa program that allows businesses the ability to hire workers as needed, especially in critical sectors such as agriculture. We can also pass the DREAM Act, a proposed program that allows young men and women the ability to earn their citizenship by either serving in the Armed Forces or graduating from college. And we should pass the Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America Act of 2011 (IDEA Act of 2011) that promotes innovation, investment and research in the United States."[10]
Campaign themes
2016
Porterfield's campaign website outlined the following three strategies for improving practices at the Department of Natural Resources:[11]
| “ |
|
” |
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Hilary Franz Washington Commissioner of public lands. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Washington's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Washington's 8th Congressional District
- Washington Commissioner of Public Lands
- Washington state executive offices
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Washington Secretary of State, "2016 candidates who have filed," accessed May 23, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 CNN "Washington Districts Race - 2012 Election Center"
- ↑ Karen Porterfield, "About Karen," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Linkedin, "Karen Porterfield," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings," accessed May 18, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Top 2 Primary: FAQ," accessed May 17, 2012
- ↑ AP Primary Results
- ↑ Campaign Website
- ↑ Campaign Website
- ↑ Campaign website
- ↑ Karen Porterfield, "Why the Department of Natural Resources," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
