Manka Dhingra to Orcas Audience: ‘I will be the 1st immigrant and 1st person of color to serve as State Attorney General’
CNL2 VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Monday, June 3, 2024 at 4:45 p.m.
by Jeff Noedel
Manka Dhingra — that’s a name you’ll be hearing over the next two months. As of Saturday morning, several dozen Orcas Island voters learned more about Dhingra, 51, one of three candidates for Washington State Attorney General. She is a Democrat — a former prosecutor who currently represents residents of the 45th legislative district (Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville) in the State Senate since 2017. When she won a special election in 2017, her election flipped control of the State Senate from Republicans to Democrats. As a senator, she has risen in Senate leadership to Deputy Majority Leader and Chair of the Law & Justice Committee.
Her legislative priorities have included:
* protecting reproductive freedom
* investing in behavioral health
* preventing gun violence
Dhingra knows the law. She clerked for Washington State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen. She rose through the ranks of the King County Prosecutor’s Office to Senior Deputy Prosecutor — experience that informed her views about restorative justice, crisis intervention, mental health, and civil rights.
Born in India, Dhingra told CNL2 the injustice done to her father, who died young after working in the infamous Bhopal Union Carbide plant, shaped her values in her lifelong pursuit of justice.
Her campaign literature says, “When elected, Manka will be the first person of color, and only the second woman in Washington State’s history to serve as Attorney General.”
Last summer, Governor Jay Inslee endorsed Democrat Nick Brown, Dhingra’s only opponent in the August 6 primary election. Brown, 46, is a former U.S. Attorney for Seattle. The winner will face Republican attorney and Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano, 43, in the November 5 general election.
Dhingra told her audience at Ladybug Pizza in Eastsound that she has more endorsements than her opponents and is leading in multiple polls.
The campaign event was co-sponsored by Rick Hughes and Indranil Gneepas Ghosh.
This CNL2 video is approximately 9-1/4 minutes in duration.
