No matter the outcome of the all-mail general election, which ends Nov. 2, Bothell and Kenmore residents are going to be sending some new faces to Olympia, or at least putting some familiar faces in new positions.

No incumbent is running in four out of five local races for state representative and state senate. Among area candidates, only State Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, is running for the seat she currently holds.

“Part of it is just people are retiring,” Kagi said in discussing the lack of local incumbents on the ballot. Kagi indicated the dearth of those seeking re-election isn’t unique to the Northshore area and also admitted there may be other reasons some public officials have chosen to forsake Olympia.

“It hasn’t been much fun these last couple of years,” Kagi said, referring to ongoing budget worries.

Not surprisingly, the budget and state taxes topped every candidate’s issue list. Education was probably a close second. For the most part, especially regarding economic issues, candidates are split along party lines in their approaches to the overall problem.

District 32, Position 1

Incumbent State Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, is running for state senate, leaving her representative’s seat open to either Shoreline Democrat Cindy Ryu or Shoreline Republican Art Coday.

A physician, Coday first planned a run against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, but backed out of that race when candidate Dino Rossi announced he would be taking on Murray. Since then, Coday has fallen in with other local Republican candidates in denouncing the proposed state income tax.

“We need an attitude that says, ‘yes,’ we can do more with less… We can do an amazing amount in Washington state with the money on hand,” Coday said during a candidate forum at the Northshore Senior Citizen Center.

A former Shoreline mayor, Ryu lost her 2009 bid for re-election to Shoreline City Council by less than 200 votes. She has come out in favor of the income tax, but with some reservations. Ryu stated she would work hard to ensure the tax, if passed by voters, would not be allowed to spread beyond the high income-tax brackets presently targeted.

Like other tax supporters, mostly Democrats, Ryu contends the income tax would help address the alleged regressiveness of the state tax system. Ryu and others argue the state’s poorest pay a much larger percentage of their income in taxes than do Washington’s wealthiest.

In the August primary, Ryu came out on top in a three-person race, but not by an overwhelming margin. Breaking down the vote, in King County, Ryu won 42.5 percent of the vote to Coday’s 36.5 percent.

In Snohomish, Coday actually finished first earning 42.9 percent of the ballots, while Ryu took 40.8 percent.

District 32, Position 2

The one race featuring an incumbent has Kagi being challenged by Shoreline Republican Gary Gagliardi. The two have clashed on a couple of fronts, including the economy and eduction.

Kagi favors a state income tax as, she argues, it helps address what she calls the unfairness of Washington’s tax system.

Along with some others, Kagi points to a 2009 study completed by a Washington, D.C., group that declared the state’s taxes the most regressive in the country. According to the study, Washington’s poorest pay 17.3 percent of their income in taxes, while the wealthiest contribute 2.9 percent. Washington’s middle class pays 9.5 percent.

“This idea that some (taxes) are more regressive than others is just silly,” Gagliardi counters, adding all taxes simply get passed along to the last consumer in line.

“They always fall more heavily on the poorest populations,” Gagliardi added, saying an income tax wouldn’t change that situation.

Moving beyond economics, Kagi has touted legislation she sponsored supporting early childhood education, a revamping of the state’s child welfare system and a sentencing bill that reduced the punishments for non-violent drug offenders.

From the beginning of the campaign, Gagliardi has attacked Kagi’s stance on education, in particular early childhood education.

“The state can’t replace the family,” he said.

Like other Republicans in the race, Gagliardi has slammed Washington’s overall school system, arguing that only 59 cents of every dollar spent on eduction reaches classrooms.

Kagi has served in Olympia for 12 years. In the August primary, she easily came out on top, earning 56.4 percent of the voter tally. Gagliardi was well behind with 35.7 percent of the votes.

District 1, Position 1

Stepping aside in this race is incumbent State Rep. Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace. O’Brien has endorsed Bothell Democrat Derek Stanford to replace him.

Opposing Stanford is another Bothell resident, Republican Dennis Richter. Perhaps more than Stanford, Richter has focused on the economy, rejecting the state income tax proposal. Richter believes officials need to determine what amount of government residents will support and set spending limits and priorities accordingly.

At various times, Stanford has talked about a couple of different ways legislators can aid Washington’s recovery, for example, by accelerating capital improvement projects, generating jobs along the way. He criticized the state’s current tax system as extremely regressive, too reliant on sales and property taxes.

Both candidates acknowledge that Bothell is in the midst of some major capital improvement projects. Would either help support those projects from Olympia?

According to Stanford, since much of the work involves two state routes, it makes sense for Olympia to help out and he believes the city has received state support in the past.

“But right now, the state shouldn’t be looking for new places to spend money,” Stanford said.

“I’m not going to be the kind of politician who does pork barrel,” Richter stated. He said local projects should probably, for the most part, be funded locally.

Stanford took first place in the summer primary, earning 26 percent of the combined King and Snohomish county votes. Richter came in second with 23.7 percent of the total tally, less than one percentage point ahead of the third-place finisher.

District 1, Position 2

Bothell Republican Heidi Munson admitted she was “pleasantly surprised” at her relatively strong showing in the August primary.

Munson and Mountlake Terrace Democrat Luis Moscoso are trying to replace outgoing State Rep. Mark Ericks, D-Snohomish. Combining results from King and Snohomish counties, Munson took in a tad shy of half the primary votes, earning 49.9 percent of the ballots. That figure was well ahead of Moscoso’s 26.8 percent. Munson’s showing came despite a rating of “not qualified” presented by the Municipal League of King County.

The league granted Moscoso a rating of “good,” the middle of the pack of five possible ratings.

Despite the primary results, Moscoso insisted he’s not worried.

“I think there’s a definite disconnect between her and the rest of the Republican Party,” Moscoso said, playing up what he characterized as Munson’s ties to the extremely conservative Tea Party movement.

During the primary, Moscoso described himself as an “idealist,” adding he would like to see the state helping as many people as possible. But Moscoso also admitted that given the current economic climate, that probably is impossible.

Munson readily admits her views are “very conservative.” On taxes and the economy, she takes issue with what she describes as Olympia’s tax and spend habits.

“We don’t have a revenue problem,” she said. “We have a spending problem… We could turn this economy around real fast if government would just stop punishing businesses.”

Hitting on other themes, Munson talked about what she sees as the evident dishonesty in Olympia.

“People feel very frustrated and very disenfranchised,” she said.