Today we are continuing our profiles of progressive candidates who are running for political office across the country and at all levels of government!

Yasmin Trudeau (she/her) is a millennial attorney who currently serves as a Washington State Senator. A Bangali-American, Yas is the first Muslim to serve in the Washington state legislature and serves as the Chair of the Senate Members of Color Caucus. After living through poverty and violence in her early years, including time in the foster care system and experiencing homelessness as a teenager, she was motivated to use her lived and professional experiences to make progressive policy change for her community. Prior to being elected herself, she served as the Legislative Director to Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the current chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Yas entered politics in her home state of Washington, where she focuses on issues like housing justice and equitable housing development, corporate responsibility and accountability, and continuing to provide the kind of resources for young people that she benefitted from in her youth to put her on the path to success.

Where are you based?
Tacoma, Washington.

What is your position/what position are you running for?
Retaining the state senate seat for 27th Legislative District.

How would you briefly summarize your platform?
For me to introduce or actively work on legislation it has to "increase opportunity" or "decrease disparities" so that people I serve can have an equal opportunity at living their best, most authentic lives.

What inspired you to run?
I had five days to decide to run the first time as the state senator for this district announced her retirement and had never considered running for office before that. But given my lived experiences as a first generation everything and someone borne in poverty and violence who navigated so many state institutions, I was inspired about a decade ago to do legislative/policy/systems based work that landed me as the legislative director to our state's attorney general until I sought the appointment and ran for election in 2021/2022. That transition into being an elected as opposed to staff was to take my lived experience that I share with many constituents in my district and combine it with my formal experience passing policy and budgets so that we can work together to improve the lives of our beloved community members. And here we are :)

What change are you hoping to bring to your district and country?
I want to offer equitable opportunities so that those like me, also get the choices and opportunity to live the lives we want and deserve.

Locally, I supported Tacoma4All, a local initiative to address the steep rise in rents and resulting economic evictions that are feeding people on to the streets in real time. At the state level, I advocate for rent stabilization and worked as one of the lead capital budget negotiators to invest an unprecedented amount of state dollars in affordable housing development.

I support keeping corporations accountable by preventing price-fixing, price-gouging and other result of anti-competitive behavior and was lead on the recent legislative efforts to keep corporations from counting and using gift card revenue for corporate profits.

I also firmly believe that we need to do more as leaders to support and uplift young people. I try to do that in everything that I do. Right now, that also means that I want to be sure they can afford the housing they deserve to stabilize their lives, can survive economically and not be beholden to ways that people in power prioritize corporate greed.

What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?
I believe that we have not provided adequate economic opportunity for too many people and this starts by stabilizing people with basic needs so that they can be afforded the opportunity to hope and dream for better. For me, that means improving access to affordable housing, behavioral health, and access to affordable education and trade opportunities.

America is extremely divided these days. How would you hope to bridge that divide with your constituents to better unite Americans?
I don't make campaign promises on what I will "fix" for people but rather, I try to listen to what people tell me is happening and collaborate to figure out solutions that I can deliver on. I also believe that as we develop our positions/votes on any platform/cause/activity, it is imperative that we listen to impacted people. Those at the center know most about their experiences and their needs. It is our role to create the trust, space and support for them to engage so that we can be informed in our decision-making and are accountable to the people when those decisions are made.

I work with my values at the center but consider myself a "pragmatic progressive." I treat everyone with respect and actually have wonderful relationships with colleagues in all spaces on the political spectrum. Part of my interest in serving as one of the few capital (infrastucture) budget writers is that it is a daily exercise because, to pass, the budget needs 2/3 of vote of the Senate, which means we have to work together to deliver a budget that serves all the needs of our state. And ultimately, I believe in inclusion and don't believe that interpersonal shaming leads to much results for our constituents. I am an advocate at heart, but I also do the work and research to support my reasoning and believe that modeling compassion and justice is how we can change hearts and minds. And when we can't, we should try to lead and defend our positions strongly with the data and stories we have worked to gather. Constituents also deserve answers for your actions, even you don't agree and I try to practice this diligently.

How do you see your unique identity and background to be an asset to you in office?
I bring a lot of "firsts" to the Washington state Legislature, which is a reality but never my intention. I am the first mom to bring her baby to the senate every day, the first American Muslim, and one of only a handful of current legislators under 45. I am also the first woman of color to represent my incredibly diverse district. I also come from a background that is pretty unique in the halls of power as someone who was borne into and survived poverty and violence.

I also gave birth during my first campaign and made history in state politics by doing so and being the only openly pregnant person on the senate floor and having the only baby with me every day in committee and on the senate floor the next session. I understand intimately why women and young people don't find a space to run or stay in the political machine, especially if they want families and I want to work on improving it.

All of this shapes my identity and is an asset because there is so much that I can relate to when we examine policy failures and opportunities and I use my voice to identify them and to help bring in the perspective necessary to address them.

What is your motto in life?
"When you do better, I do better." and in another way describing our interconnectedness, I would refer to one of my favorite Rumi poems: "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop." Because I believe we are designed to be in community and to support one another. And when we don't have that in mind, we lose our opportunity to connect meaningfully and society suffers, and our lives suffer as a result.

Where can we find out more about you?
Campaign website: Yasmin Trudeau - State Senator (peopleforyasmin.com)
Legislative website: Home - Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (wa.gov)
Articles: Meet Washington’s newest state senator — Yasmin Trudeau - State Senator (peopleforyasmin.com)
Videos of some of my floor speeches: (Superstar) Washington State Senator Yasmin Trudeau (youtube.com) Sen. Yasmin Trudeau Reels | Facebook

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2024 - Yasmin Trudeau, Washington State Senate, District 27