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WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The 2026 Primary is here for Whatcom County. Ballots were mailed out Wednesday, July 15 and numerous races will be culled down for the region ahead of this November. Below are responses to questions sent to each candidate in the race for the Washington state 40th District Representative Postition 2. They have not been edited with the exception for typos and formatting reasons.
Monte Jay Mahan
Independent owner of an Audiology Practice for 24 years in Bellingham. Natural Resource Conservation, Pre-Med and Forestry programs completed at the University of Florida. Raised two kids who went through Whatcom K-12 public schools.
What do you see yourself bringing to the office that is an advantage over your opponents?
Totally local resident-focused Independent with no long-term political career in mind. Boots on the ground business experience and knowledge of what locals are saying they want.
What approach will you have as a leader?
The best interests of the residents in District 40 will lead me.
What policies from prior leadership do you agree with? Which ones would you like to see changed?
Increasing school funding, providing credits to reduce utilities, maintenance of ferries,and reducing expensive building regulations are good.
The state mandate to increase housing has pressured local communities to make rushed decisions with forever consequences. What good is more housing if it is still unaffordable? The cost of Basic required needs: food, water, gas, electricity need to be reduced or mitigated down to create more disposable income.
What public needs do you think need more attention that are currently underserved?
Access to safe streets and parks for children and young adults in our communities. The safety of anyone to walk around in public in Downtown Centers and parks and business districts. Lack thereof restricts access to recreation and business patrons. I think open air drug use and aggressive panhandling kind of go without saying.
What do you feel is your largest challenge in winning this election?
I need voters to hesitate for one second on District 40, Pos. 2 and vote for Monte instead of just voting straight down the D ticket. Please, slow down and vote for me.
Without the backing of the two major parties, what will be the biggest challenge of running as an Independent?
I am not backed by either major party, budgets for advertising and radio and signage are not funded by any Super PAC that is for sure. Also anything different to voters may present a risk, however I think it is a chance you should take on me, because I am not feeling like the local residents are winning at the table r5ight now.
Alex Ramel
I’ve served as your State Representative since 2020. Before that, I’ve worked on housing and climate policy in a number of roles at organizations familiar to many in Bellingham. As Program Director at Sustainable Connections I founded the Community Energy Challenge, creating living-wage jobs, cutting pollution, and reducing energy costs for thousands of people and businesses in Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan counties. As President of the Board for Kulshan Community Land Trust I’ve helped to create affordable housing for low- and middle-income families.
What do you see yourself bringing to the office as an advantage over your opponents?
I stand out in this crowd because I have been doing this work for 6 years. During that time I’ve helped to fund affordable housing in our community with partners like the Opportunity Council. I’ve supported funding for our institutions like Western Washington University and Bellingham Technical College. I’ve helped to expand access to early childhood education facilities in our region. I’ve helped bring resources for local economic development on Bellingham’s waterfront. I’ve supported community priorities like mental health treatment and upgrades to our transportation infrastructure to protect our salmon. This experience and track record of success is where I stand out.
What approach will you have as a leader?
I believe in community service, and in a progressive vision for Washington State. I don’t always have the answer to every problem, but I can usually see ways to get people working together. That skill is really needed in Olympia; that’s why I was elected by other Representatives as the Majority Caucus Whip. Building a team that works together is critical to how I have been successful in getting things done for our community.
What policies from prior leadership do you agree with? Which ones would you like to see changed?
I’ll highlight a couple of big steps we’ve taken in the last few years that I am especially proud of having supported.
Passing the Millionaires Tax is a huge step toward tax fairness in Washington. About 20,000 Washingtonians with the largest paychecks soon will be paying what they owe to fund community priorities like education and healthcare. And at the same time we’ve committed to reduce taxes on those who earn the least and on the smallest businesses. That’s what tax fairness looks like.
We also passed Rent Stabilization. In a time where politicians are all talking about affordability, we took real action to make sure that extreme rent increases, greater than 10% per year, would no longer be allowed. Housing is the largest expense for most of us, and I was routinely hearing from people whose rent had been increased by $400 or more a month. That’s no longer allowed in Washington, and I’m proud to have helped make that happen.
What public needs do you think need more attention that are currently underserved?
Our state budget is our biggest focus, and must continue to be. Donald Trump’s tariffs, reckless cuts, and needless wars are causing chaos in our economy, and it means a disaster for our state finances. Our challenge will be to protect schools, vulnerable neighbors and healthcare while balancing the budget.
I’ve been working for several years on improving the reliability and affordability of our electric grid. We passed a major bill on electricity transmission last year, which will help a lot. But we have more to do, especially to strictly regulate data centers.
Many of our K-12 schools are in a real crisis. Shrinking student populations and increasing costs make it tough to balance these budgets. We’ve increased funding the past two years and improved local budget tools, but we need to keep making progress.
What do you feel is your largest challenge in winning this election?
I’ve worked hard to remain accessible and responsive to constituents. I have a reputation as an effective voice for our community, and a record of getting things done. I’ve been successful at passing bipartisan legislation, while remaining true to my progressive roots. I feel confident that as long as voters are hearing about this track record that I’ll continue to have the support of the community.
As one of multiple Democrats in this race, how do you distinguish yourself from other candidates?
I think my opponents all declared as either “independent” or “no party preference.”
I’m proudly a member of the Democratic Party; I believe in a vision of community working together for common good, and to create real opportunity for everyone. I work to elect other Democrats who share those values, and have for two decades. I’ve enjoyed the endorsement of the local Democratic Party every time I’ve run for office. In the legislature, I’ve been elected to a caucus leadership position by the other Democratic legislators.
Salomon Rodrigue Mbouombouo
Did not respond to repeated requests.
Joseph Segault
To be entirely clear, I am not a politician. I am a family man, business owner, and an active member of my community. I care deeply about our local needs such as; affordability, health and safety in our communities, accountability at the state level and transparent tax structure that inspires confidence not confusion.
What do you see yourself bringing to the office that is an advantage over your opponents?
The biggest advantage I believe I have over the other candidates is that I am an independent. People seem to be fed up with career politicians that don’t properly represent the communities but instead spend insane amounts of time and money fulfilling their donors desires.
What policies from prior leadership do you agree with? Which ones would you like to see changed?
I’m not a big fan of increasing taxes without showing the people where all the money actually goes. We need to be accountable to our constituents.
What public needs do you think need more attention that are currently underserved?
One of the biggest needs in our communities is having an option on who to vote for. The one party system that we currently operate under has left nearly half the population with zero voice in Olympia.
What do you feel is your largest challenge in winning this election?
The hardest challenge moving into the primary is that the incumbent is backed by one of the wealthiest institutions in America, the DNC. My campaign is supported by a groundswell of grassroots everyday hardworking families.
My Bellingham Now is committed to providing equal opportunities to candidates in the Whatcom County region. This is part of a series of emailed questionnaires our team sent to candidates in elections likely to see eliminations in the 2026 Primary. Read responses from candidates in the following races: