By Toby Nixon

I appreciate the opportunities I’ve had throughout this long and tough campaign to speak with so many of you in the 45th District about the things that concern you most. Many have thanked me for running a positive campaign based on my record and positions on the issues. I’ve refused to reciprocate the negative attacks of my opponent, focusing instead on the challenges and opportunities of the future.

The non-partisan Municipal League of King County rates candidates on their involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge. They rated me “Outstanding”, while rating my opponent two levels lower.

I’m endorsed by the Seattle Times, school board members, city council members, mayors, county council members, and hundreds of individuals and families throughout the 45th district and around Washington.

Government must be open, honest, and accountable to the people. I’ve proven my commitment to open and accountable government as president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and chair of Citizens for Accountable Elections, and I received the “Freedom’s Light Award” from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for defending First Amendment rights.

I’ve been recognized for fiscal responsibility, economic development, improving the business climate, and creating jobs, receiving the “Guardian of Small Business” award from the National Federation of Independent Business and the Association of Washington Business “Cornerstone Award” several consecutive years.

The single largest failure of the past four years is the legislature’s irresponsible over-commitment of future spending based on a temporary revenue “bubble”. They increased spending by an unsustainable 33%, and now we’re facing a $3.2 billion budget shortfall. While serving in the legislature, I consistently opposed unsustainable spending growth. Instead, I co-sponsored a “rainy day fund” to save much of the revenue from the bubble rather than spending it all, so we wouldn’t have to roll back programs or lay off state employees during the inevitable downturn that now faces us. Unfortunately, the legislature created the rainy day fund only after it was too late to do much good.

In the tough times ahead, we must refocus government on its core missions: protecting our lives, liberty, and property, and providing essential infrastructure and services to support a robust economy that creates jobs and enables us to care for our families.

We must control the growth of spending, and not raise taxes. I strongly oppose a state income tax.

We must solve our traffic nightmare by improving the safety and capacity of our highways, bridges, and local roads and by providing larger park-and-ride lots and more frequent and on-demand bus service.

We must continue improving schools, equipping our children to be informed and active citizens, competitive in a worldwide marketplace. We need less bureaucracy, more resources in the classroom, fewer unfunded mandates, adequate pay to keep our best teachers teaching, and full funding for basic education. We must reform the WASL so it takes less time away from teaching and quickly identifies where students need help.

We must continue cleaning up Puget Sound and the rest of our environment. I have a solid record of environmental stewardship, co-sponsoring bills to phase out the use of toxic flame retardants, recycle electronic products, use green building standards, protect against oil spills, and invest in alternative fuels and renewable energy. I’ve shown my commitment to environmental protection, serving on the board of Heart of America Northwest and sponsoring the Hanford Clean-up Initiative.

I’m firmly committed to the principles upon which our nation was founded and that made it great — individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government. The vision laid out in our constitution — unity, justice, peace, security, prosperity, and liberty — and securing it not only for ourselves, but for our children, motivates my public service. I feel a deep and abiding personal responsibility to preserve and defend what our founding fathers created.

During my five years in the legislature and twenty-five years developing international technology standards, I’ve learned how to face tough challenges and get things done. I’ve forged bi-partisan consensus solutions on controversial, high-profile issues.

I look forward to the privilege and opportunity to once again apply my skills and experience in serving all the people of the 45th District and Washington state. I ask for your vote on November 4.

Toby Nixon served as State Representative for the 45th District from 2002 to 2007. His web site is www.tobynixon.com.