As our country faces unparalleled division, we need leaders who are committed to putting people first and working toward solutions that work for everyone in our community.

Emily Randall will stand up for our community and ensure our voices are heard in Olympia.

We need leaders who are committed to putting people first. As State Senator, I will stand strong for what matters to us.

I will stand strong for quality healthcare and paid family leave.

When my sister Olivia was born in 1993 with severe developmental and physical disabilities, we didn’t know if she’d live an hour, or a day, or a year. She lived to 19 and it was a blessing for my family. But it was also a struggle. Even with my dad’s Shipyard worker insurance, we wouldn’t have been able to pay for Olivia’s expensive medical equipment, for the specialists in Tacoma and Seattle, for in-home care for 19 years.

Because of Medicaid, Olivia was able to live a full life at home with my family, and as a special-ed student at East Port Orchard Elementary. No family should go bankrupt because they have been in an accident or have medical needs.

I will stand strong so every child has the same opportunities.

Our classrooms are overcrowded. When I attended South Kitsap High school, there weren’t enough desks for every student in my English class. Years later, we continue to see crowded portable classrooms on the lawns of schools in Bremerton, South Kitsap, and Peninsula School Districts.

Teachers and paraeducators, like my mom, are overworked and undervalued. Students are not getting the resources and attention they need to be ready to graduate, much less for what comes next -- college, apprenticeship programs, family-wage jobs.

In order to build a future that works for all of us, we need to strengthen our schools, value our teachers, and invest in our children.

I will stand strong for an economy that works for everyone.

While there is currently a lot of focus on the people who are moving to Kitsap County and the Peninsula to escape the skyrocketing costs in Seattle, there are already people who live here -- who choose to live here -- because our community is special and unique.

No county in the US has as many miles of shoreline as Kitsap County. In Olalla and Key Peninsula you don’t live right on top of your neighbors. Sunsets from the Port Orchard, Bremerton, and Gig Harbor marinas are the stuff postcards are made of.

But while the Seattle economy is booming, on this side of the Sound we’re getting left behind. The influx in new people isn’t matched with an increase in spending on roads,transportation and infrastructure. If you’ve sat in bumper to bumper traffic on Hwy 3 when the Shipyard lets out, you know what I mean.

Whether you work at PSNS or you commute by ferry or car, we need to make sure our roads and bridges and ferry system are working for you. And we must give home-grown small and mid-sized businesses a fair shot. Our community has the opportunity to move forward, at a pace and in a manner that’s right for us, with the right representation in Olympia.