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EVERETT—Jeff Kelly, who is running for the Washington State House of Representatives (District 38) under the Cascade Party, officially kicked off his campaign Saturday, May 2, at the Everett VFW, building a strong platform on affordability, public safety, and opportunity.

Kelly’s platform is built around police reforms while maintaining accountability vouching for community-focused policing while embracing new technologies.

As for the state’s budget crises, Kelly wants to conduct benefit analyses on state programs to ensure that dollars spent on certain programs are truly benefiting the public and reaching their goals. For example, cap in invest, which he said hasn’t been keeping up with its carbon emission reduction goals.

“These programs are not working. If we’re going to be taxing people then those dollars should be going to where they say they are going, we shouldn’t be giving 70% to special interest organizations and groups. The money needs to go to where it was designed to go,” said Kelly.

Kelly also wants to make Washington a more “business friendly” state through streamlining the permitting process.

And lastly, Kelly is championing for a more affordable Washington while still preserving rural communities who are opposed to density. If elected he plans to work with local municipalities to assess their needs before pushing developments through.

“They kind of have this one size fits all approach to housing, but that doesn’t work. What works for Seattle doesn’t work for Marysville,” said Kelly. “I think more cities would be on board with promoting growth and pushing growth if they felt their considerations were taken into account.”  

Kelly was adopted by his parents, Russ and Bev who raised him in a loving home in Everett. But when his father was injured working at Boeing his life changed overnight, going from stability to uncertainty – from the grocery lines to the cheese lines. In these moments he learned how fragile stability can be, and how strong people can become.

His father rebuilt his life and became a paralegal, becoming a source of inspiration for Kelly who entered the workforce at the age of 12 picking berries in Arlington. At 14 he got a job at the Smokey Point Taco Time, and at 15 got a job as a dishwasher for a restaurant.

When Kelly had his first child at the age of 19, he knew he had to increase his income, so became an Alaskan fisherman where he worked tirelessly in relentless conditions, quickly learning “you don’t quit, you adapt.”

Kelly met his wife Maren in 2000, who he shares two children with – Maeve and Jaime. The two enlisted in the United States Army, both serving tours in Iraq, and living briefly in Germany.

Kelly’s first delve into public service came from his time on the Delta Neighborhood Association. Through his time here he began to feel compelled to get more involved but, as an independent, struggled to find a party he identified with.

While surfing the internet Kelly stumbled upon the Cascade Party – which he agreed with on most major issues. He attended their annual meeting and, by the end of it, he was an official member and sat on the Board of Directors.

Thomas (Jeff) Kelly is running against incumbent Julio Cortes.

About the Cascade Party

The Cascade Party is a relatively new miner political party which was formed in early 2024 by former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic to provide a “centrist” alternative to the two-party system.

“We are a non-conformist party. We’re not MAGA, we’re not the activist left. What parties do is they package the issues. There are so many things going on so voters look for a donkey, or an elephant, and now they can look for an owl,” Novoselic told the Lynnwood Times. “We’re not just a special interest group, we’re a bona-fide political party and we act like one.”

Novoselic previously served as Chair for the Wahkiakum County Democrats but left in 2009 after he felt like he no longer “fit in”, he shared. Instead of veering right, to the side of the conservatives, he remained an independent until establishing his own centrist party in 2024.

The Cascade Party officially gained status as a minor party that year, granting them access to the same campaign finance rules as Republicans and Democrats. As of now the party is only active in Washington State.

Novoselic compared his political party in many ways to his musical career in that navigating both the music industry and politics has its “difficulties,” he said.

“In Nirvana, Seattle was exploding at the time, musically and culturally. There was no number one rock record the year before Nevermind came out. In politics it’s the same thing, people are cynical, they’re unplugged, and they’re looking for something different and it doesn’t have to be conservative, being liberal, it’s more about being non-conformist, going your own way and that’s what we’re doing,” said Novoselic.

What sets the Cascade Party apart from other parties is that it uses its own social media called the Hub, where people can interact with others, vote and discuss issues, and engage in Cascade Party events.

As far as policies and issues go the Cascade Party takes a community-driven approach that tackles issues by issues themselves, rather than from a partisan view, and attempts to do so in a pragmatic and reasonable way.

“Like Republicans and Democrats, we’re a party ready to take on any issue. The difference is we believe democracy works best when all voices are heard,” added Jeff Kelly. “The Cascade Party was founded under the simple idea that let’s get together and let good ideas compete. Because when good ideas compete people benefit, and when people benefit our state moves forward.”