Joe Fitzgibbon, the incumbent who is being challenged for his seat in the House, is the clear best choice for Vashon and for the 34th District.

Fitzgibbon’s challenger Brendan Kolding has a head for policy — he helps craft the Seattle Police Department’s policies — and a passion for education, inarguably a top issue in Olympia. However, his idea for education isn’t the answer for Washington, and he lacks the political acumen to address the range of issues facing our state.

Kolding is running on the platform that getting more money into the hands of private schools would help the state meet the McCleary decision, the state Supreme Court mandate that the state fully fund public education by 2018. If private schools had more money, he argues, they could lower tuition or offer more scholarships, giving more students the chance to move to private schools and take burden off of public ones. However, there’s a reason that the law prevents most states from funding religious institutions, and using a reimbursement program to skate around that law would take us down the wrong path. What’s more, the intent of the McCleary decision was to build stronger public schools in Washington and for the state to fulfill its constitutional duty to fund education, not to bolster private schools. And Kolding presents no plan for raising revenue for such a program, much less any new funding for education. With one idea that’s not even a good one, Kolding is a one-trick pony who wouldn’t get far in Olympia.

Since being elected in 2010, Fitzgibbon has become known on Vashon as a staunch supporter of ferry service, something a representative of any ferry-served community should be, and he has fought ferry cuts on multiple occasions. It’s tough to point to his other significant accomplishments for Vashon residents, but that’s largely due to the political gridlock in Olympia in recent years. Fitzgibbon is committed to environmental protection, something that will be an ongoing need, and has already proposed legislation to lower the state’s carbon emissions. He’ll continue to advocate to find vital funding for transportation and the schools, either through his carbon tax proposal or another route. At just 28 years old, Fitzgibbon has potential to accomplish much in his political career. If reelected, we hope he doesn’t disappoint.