Chandler Torbett is a Democratic candidate for Washington State Representative in the 45th Legislative District, representing communities including Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, Duvall, and Sammamish.

Chandler is a technology attorney, former Tribal healthcare-system leader, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, husband, and father of three boys. He is running to make the 45th more affordable, strengthen public schools, prepare Washington for the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence, and bring greater urgency and effectiveness to state government.

Chandler has built his career solving complicated problems in high-stakes environments. Today, he works as a corporate technology attorney at Amazon, helping teams navigate complex questions involving technology, privacy, consumer protection, and AI. His work requires him to understand new technologies, weigh competing interests, anticipate unintended consequences, and turn complicated rules into practical solutions.

That experience is increasingly important in Olympia. AI is already changing employment, education, healthcare, privacy, and public services. Chandler understands both the transformative potential of technology and the need for thoughtful safeguards. He will help Washington develop proactive, informed policy instead of waiting until problems become crises.

Before working in the tech sector, Chandler served as general counsel for a large Tribal healthcare system delivering care to an underserved community. In that role, he helped navigate the legal and operational challenges involved in providing healthcare, managing public resources, supporting providers, and meeting the needs of patients. He saw firsthand that coverage alone is not enough: people need meaningful access to primary and preventive care, an adequate healthcare workforce, and a system focused on producing better health outcomes.

Chandler also previously served as a Tribal public defender and as an attorney for a reintegration program helping people rebuild their lives after incarceration. These experiences showed him how decisions made by government institutions affect real people, and how much good effective public systems can accomplish when they are designed around outcomes rather than bureaucracy.

Chandler grew up in a working-class family in rural Oklahoma and attended underfunded public schools. He saw families work hard and still struggle with poverty, addiction, limited healthcare access, and a lack of economic opportunity. As a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, Chandler also experienced the difference that strong communities and effective public institutions can make. His Tribe helped create opportunities that changed the course of his life. Chandler became the first person in his family to attend law school, and his career eventually brought him to Washington. Today, Chandler and his wife are raising their three boys in the 45th. Their lives are filled with school drop-offs, sports practices, church and community events, long workdays, and the everyday demands facing working parents. Chandler understands why families are worried about housing, childcare, groceries, healthcare, education, and whether their children will be able to build lives in the communities where they were raised.

Chandler believes the central challenge facing the 45th is affordability. Too many people are working hard, doing everything right, and still finding that the math does not work.

He is running with a detailed agenda to:

• Lower housing costs by making it easier, faster, and less expensive to build homes.
• Expand access to affordable childcare and universal pre-K.
• Fully fund public education while maintaining high expectations for student outcomes.
• Improve access to preventive healthcare and lower healthcare and prescription-drug costs.
• Prepare workers, schools, and consumers for the effects of artificial intelligence.
• Support small businesses and sustainable economic growth.
• Make state government more effective at turning public investments into measurable results.

Chandler is not running to preserve politics as usual. He is running because this moment requires urgency, sound judgment, independent thinking, and leaders who know how to deliver.

Chandler is the only candidate in this race endorsed by The Seattle Times Editorial Board. After evaluating the candidates, the board concluded: “It is Torbett, not Kritzer, who is a better fit for the district.” The editorial board also wrote that Chandler “showed a greater affinity for what’s best in Olympia—regardless of party” and encouraged voters to embrace his solutions-oriented campaign. Chandler has also earned the support of retiring State Representative Larry Springer, who said Chandler is ready to lead on affordability, housing, education, and economic opportunity. Elected experience is one form of preparation for public office. Chandler brings another: leadership across healthcare, technology, law, public service, and complex organizations, combined with a personal understanding of what strong public institutions can make possible.

Chandler has the experience the 45th needs right now.