About Kaylee

Kaylee grew up in Sequim and lives there today with her husband, Matt, their daughter, Nora, and their dog, Maggie. Raised by two longtime public school teachers, she has built her career around education, public service, labor advocacy, and community engagement.

Kaylee attended The Evergreen State College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree focused on politics and social psychology. While there, she interned in the Washington State Senate and later worked in the legislature as an aide for state senators, meeting with stakeholders, tracking legislation, and connecting constituents with services.

After earning her master’s degree in education, Kaylee became a high school math, history, and government teacher. She also coached girls wrestling and golf, and she advised the Speech and Debate club. Her work in education focused on preparing students to think critically and understand how government impacts their lives. She continues supporting local education through the Sequim Career and Technical Education advisory committee.

Kaylee works with The Building Bridges Project, a nonprofit that teaches civility and civic engagement to young people. She also advocates in Olympia on behalf of the Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers in partnership with Pacific Northwest Regional Strategies.

While working for different State Senators in the legislature, Kaylee met her husband, Matt. They married in the Capitol building in 2023. Matt is a former prosecuting attorney and now serves as an Assistant Attorney General for Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Kaylee’s experiences as an educator, advocate, and new mom have motivated her to step up and do the work to strengthen the 24th Legislative District and improve Washington State for future generations

Platform

improving our healthcare System

tackling affordability

ensuring quality education for all

supporting the seniors in our community

Always pro-choice & pro-families

addressing the mental health & substance abuse crisis

Protecting Our environment & family-wage jobs

Too many people are struggling just to get by. As someone renting an ADU from family while raising a daughter, I understand how out of reach housing and everyday costs have become. I’ll focus on practical solutions that help working families, seniors, and people on fixed incomes afford to live and stay in our communities.

Despite being one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world, the United States consistently spends the most on healthcare and gets the worst outcomes.

As a former teacher and daughter of career-long public educators, I believe every student deserves access to a quality education no matter their zip code. Rural schools should not be left behind because of unfair funding formulas or regionalization policies that make it harder to recruit and retain educators in communities like ours. I’ll fight to fully fund public schools, special education, and the educators and educational support professionals who help students succeed every day. I also support expanding opportunities in career and technical education, apprenticeships, trades, and college pathways so students can build successful futures right here in our district.

Mental health and substance use issues touch nearly every family, whether we talk about them openly or not. Far too often, people try to handle things on their own until they’re overwhelmed, and by the time they can get help, the situation has already become a crisis. I will focus on making care easier to access and more consistent. That means investing in local treatment options when possible, strengthening crisis response, and supporting the school teachers, counselors and healthcare providers who are often the first point of contact.

Protecting our environment is essential to protecting our communities, way of life, and future generations. I support policies that protect our forests, waterways, shorelines, wildlife, and natural resources while continuing to work toward cleaner air and water. Living on the Peninsula, we understand how connected we are to the health of our environment, from salmon and shellfish to forests and outdoor recreation.

I also believe we need to think globally when it comes to climate policy. We should continue reducing emissions while avoiding leakage by keeping energy-intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) industries and union jobs here under strong environmental standards instead of pushing production elsewhere with weaker protections. We can support both environmental stewardship and family-wage jobs through balanced, forward-thinking solutions.

Honoring Service & Ensuring public Safety

Our communities rely on people who dedicate their lives to service, whether in the military, law enforcement, or firefighting. Members of my family served our country in the military, both in the Marines and the Navy. Their commitment has instilled in me the importance of honoring our veterans and ensuring they have the support they need when they return home.

Law enforcement officers work hard every day to keep our neighborhoods safe. At the state level, we should work together with the agencies that protect our people to ensure the highest standard of public safety and service to our communities.

Healthcare decisions around pregnancy and reproduction are deeply personal. Washington State has recognized the importance of protecting privacy and access to care for a long time, and I am committed to maintaining those protections.

I support better access to childcare, prenatal and postpartum care, IVF, and paid medical and family leave policies that help parents like myself and my husband stay in the workforce while meeting our family’s needs.

Healthcare should not bankrupt people. I will work to improve access to affordable care, support local hospitals and clinics, and fight for fair insurance reimbursements so providers can keep serving our communities. I also support healthcare workers who are already stretched thin. In rural areas like ours, getting quality care close to home matters.

I would love to see programs like CARES in Port Townsend by the East Jefferson Fire Rescue available across the state. The CARES team is an alternate response program that staffs an EMT and a prevention specialist to respond to non-emergency situations in the community.

Addressing housing & homelessness

Housing is one of the biggest challenges facing our district. Too many working families, young people, seniors, and even essential workers are being priced out of our communities. In places like Port Townsend, we are seeing workers commute farther and farther because housing close to jobs has become unattainable.

We need to increase the supply of affordable and middle housing while protecting the character of our communities and making sure infrastructure keeps up with growth. I support continued investment in the Housing Trust Fund, workforce housing, first-time homebuyer opportunities, and housing solutions that help seniors stay in their communities. We also need to speed up the permitting process and reduce unnecessary costs and delays that make it harder to build housing people can actually afford.

I also support addressing homelessness with compassion, accountability, mental health support, and treatment services because people deserve both safety and dignity.

Many seniors in our district are struggling with rising costs while trying to stay near family and community. I will work to protect healthcare access, strengthen long-term care services, and help make it easier for seniors to age with dignity and independence.