Individual liberty and the American dream are common themes for the two candidates in Washington’s 9th Legislative District House position 1 race.

Two-term incumbent Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, brings a conservative, agricultural perspective to the Washington Statehouse. Dye hopes to continue her efforts expanding economic opportunities in rural Washington.

“The relationships I’ve built and work I’ve done has laid the groundwork for more big projects in the future,” she said. “I look forward to moving on to the next steps.”

Brett Borden, Dye’s opponent in the race, is treasurer for the Libertarian Party of Washington. He rejects the divisiveness of the two major political parties and supports freedom and self-determination for all people.

“For me, we have natural rights, and those rights need to be universally applied or they just become privileges granted by government,” he said. “I believe in all your rights, all the time, for everyone.”

Borden, 38, grew up in the Spokane Valley and later opened a small retail shop in Pullman that closed at the end of 2016. He sees this race as an opportunity to highlight the Libertarian philosophy during a presidential election year.

“We like to call ourselves the ‘party of principles,’ ” he said. “We think everyone should have freedom and self-determination. People should be able to live as they see fit, as long as they aren’t harming others.”

Along those lines, criminal justice reform is one of Borden’s top issues. He opposes criminalizing nonviolent behavior, including the use of recreational drugs.

“As free people, we have a natural right to ingest what we want,” he said. “The current approach (regarding illegal drug use) isn’t working. It’s time we look at options that reduce the harm brought on by excessive enforcement.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s executive orders regarding the coronavirus pandemic are another example of unnecessary government intrusion, Borden said. While he agrees masks and social distancing are sensible precautions against the virus, he rejects mandating such actions and penalizing people who don’t comply.

“Criminalizing nonviolent conduct in our neighbors just because we don’t like what they’re doing just perpetuates the inequalities (in the criminal justice system),” Borden said.

Dye, 59, also supports efforts to rein in the governor’s emergency powers. She’s been disappointed that the state’s response to the pandemic has largely been developed without legislative input.

“I hope we have a bill (next session) that tightens the emergency powers and never allows this imbalance to occur between the executive and legislative branch,” she said.

Since she was appointed to office in 2015, much of Dye’s work has been directed toward expanding economic opportunities in rural Washington. In 2018, for example, she sponsored legislation allowing all Washington port districts to invest in open access fiber-optic networks, as a way to encourage private broadband providers to serve smaller communities by reducing their up-front infrastructure costs.

More recently, she helped advance the Odessa Aquifer Groundwater Replacement Project, which will provide farmers and small communities in the area with access to surface water from the federal Columbia Basin project.

Dye said she started working on the issue in 2016, during a visit to the Lind Combine Demolition Derby.

The Lind municipal well had failed, so local farmers were trucking water into town from their own deep wells to fill the kids’ swimming pool. That didn’t make sense to her, since much of the infrastructure was in place to tap into the Columbia Basin surface water.

With funding she and others helped secure, a pipeline was constructed and began delivering water this month.

“This is the first new water delivery system for that area since 1968,” Dye said. “Seeing it up and running, I don’t know if you can imagine how that felt. Hopefully in another five years the groundwater replacement piece will be complete, and we’ll see the aquifer recharged and wildlife habitat restored.”

Four more pipelines are in the works, she said, and another $30 million in state funding has already been approved.

Issues like that are why Dye thinks she’s the best choice for voters.

“I look for generational projects that will leave our kids with more opportunities and the capacity to succeed,” she said. “I think I’ve proven I can accomplish things and bring opportunities to a district and communities that have been left behind.”

Borden shares Dye’s interest in providing economic opportunities for people.

For example, in keeping with his Libertarian philosophy, he’d like the state to ease restrictions on occupational licensing. Such regulations are often designed to limit competition, he said, rather than serving any real public safety purpose.

“There is a tendency to erect barriers to entry for people who are just trying to better themselves by starting a small business,” he said. “When we keep people from bettering themselves, it forces them onto (public) assistance. It just keeps people down, and that doesn’t help society.”

Borden said he’s the best choice for voters because his commitment to civil liberty is a fundamental guiding principle. The two major political parties, by contrast, often talk about personal freedom, but only support it on issues they agree with.

“I’m always going to be there when it comes to individual choice and liberty,” he said.Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election will be mailed to voters Friday.

In the 9th Legislative District House position 2 race, six-term incumbent Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, is running unopposed.

In the 9th District Senate race, four-term incumbent Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, was being challenged by Pasco Democrat Jenn Goulet. However, Goulet dropped out of the race in September to move to another state. Her name will remain on the ballot because she withdrew after the deadline; should she win, another Democrat would be appointed to replace her.

Schoesler previously spent 12 years in the Washington House and currently serves as leader of the Senate Republican caucus.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208)-791-9168.

Mary Dye

Running for: Washington 9th Legislative District, House position 1

Party affiliation: Republican

Age: 59

Education: Plant science degree, University of Idaho

Work experience: More than 30 years running a family farm; spent two years in the Peace Corps

Previous public elected office: Two-term incumbent; appointed in 2015 and elected to her first full term in 2016

Family: Married, three daughters

Website: vote4mary.com

Brett Borden

Running for: Washington 9th Legislative District, House position 1.

Party affiliation: Libertarian

Age: 38

Education: Attended Eastern Washington UniversityWork experience: Assembly worker at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories; previously ran his own small retail business and has experience in bookkeeping/auditing

Previous public elected office: None

Family status: Single

Website: www.facebook.com/bordenforliberty