Chelan County - Political Candidate Responses

Stonewall News Northwest reached out to 68 candidates in 30 state legislative district races in 5 Washington State counties. We posed six questions gauging their positions on equality, inclusivity, instilling civility in discourse and bridging community divides.

Many candidates shied away from these questions, but others stepped up.

In Chelan County, one candidate responded out of 10 contacted. Their full questionnaire responses are below. See other counties here.

Chelan County, WA | Population (2020): 79,074 | Area: 2,994 square miles

Website: https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/

Racial Makeup: The racial makeup of the county was 69.9% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% Asian, 16.8% from some other race, and 10.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 28.0% of the population.

Age Distribution: Of the residents, 22.3% were under the age of 18 and 20.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 41.0 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.6 males. 66.4% of residents lived in urban areas and 33.6% lived in rural areas.

Politics: A Republican Party stronghold, it has become more competitive in recent years; though he carried the county in all three of his runs, Donald Trump won it by single-digit margins in 2020 and 2024.

Stacy Willoughby - Candidate for Chelan County Legislative District 12, State Representative Position 1

Website: https://www.stacyforhouse.com/

1. In one paragraph, please share your professional qualifications for the position you are seeking.

I bring more than twenty-five years in financial services, including work as an independent financial advisor, an author, and a bank branch manager and VP in Chelan, and two decades sitting across the table from working families navigating housing costs, medical debt, and the everyday budget decisions state policy actually touches. I've served as Board President of Chelan Valley Hope through a two-year capital project that added 2,200 square feet of space in partnership with the Lake Chelan Food Bank, which meant managing budgets, building coalitions, and getting something real built in a small rural community with limited resources. That combination, financial literacy and nonprofit execution, is what I want to bring to the 12th District's seat in Olympia.

2. Please provide your previous experience, if any, in working with LGBTQIA+ people, LGBTQIA+ youth, LGBTQIA+ families and LGBTQIA+ communities.

I want to answer this honestly rather than reaching for an experience I don't have. My own experience with my youngest brother coming out and being in community with LGBTQIA+ friends and families have been challenging and rewarding. I’ve been the “Matron of Honor” for my friends Rachel and Tammy, but other than doing the flowers, I wasn’t very involved in organizing that either. I love a Pride event, but have only attended. I would hope to someday have the honor of being in a Pride parade.

My direct professional work hasn't been LGBTQIA+-specific programming, and I won't claim it was. What I bring instead: Chelan Valley Hope, where I served as Board President, doesn't turn anyone away based on who they are, and during my time there I watched firsthand how often LGBTQIA+ youth show up disproportionately among people facing housing instability, often after being rejected by their own families.

In twenty-five years of financial advising, I worked with LGBTQIA+ clients navigating the specific financial obstacles their community faces, from the cost of family-building to the paperwork burden of a legal name change. That's real, but it isn't the same as organizing work, and I'd rather tell you that directly than inflate it.

3. How would you bridge divides to bring people together for important common causes under the larger umbrella of good governance.

The 12th District is genuinely competitive, rural and suburban, agricultural and tech-adjacent, and it has voters who disagree on plenty. What I've found, going door to door, is that most people aren't actually divided on the specifics once you get past the label. I bridge that by leading with the concrete thing, the water bill or the lease renewal, instead of the ideology attached to it, and by being honest when I disagree with someone instead of changing the subject. Good governance means the same rules for everyone: transparent budgets, agencies that answer their phones, and representatives who show up in the rooms where people actually live their lives, not just the rooms where donors gather. That's the umbrella. Specific problems, honestly named, solved for everyone under it.

4. How would you address the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and violence?

I won't pretend rhetoric doesn't matter or that it stays contained to words. When elected officials or candidates traffic in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, it gives permission to people who were already looking for one, and the violence follows the permission. As a legislator, I'll say so publicly and by name rather than staying vague about "divisive politics," because vagueness is part of how this gets normalized. On policy, I support strengthening hate crime reporting and prosecution, funding for the legal aid and victim advocacy organizations that LGBTQIA+ people actually turn to after an incident, and requiring that schools have real protocols, not just a poster on the wall, for protecting queer and trans students from harassment. I also think showing up matters in a plain way: at vigils, at Pride, in the district office, so that being visible on this isn't limited to a floor speech in Olympia that most of my constituents will never see.

5. What specific policies or protections would you advocate for to ensure LGBTQIA+ people in your community have equal access to healthcare, housing, and employment opportunities? If you would not support protections, please state which ones and why, and detail what concrete alternatives you would implement to guarantee fair and equal treatment for all residents in these areas.

On healthcare, I support state law ensuring Medicaid and other state health programs cover gender-affirming care the same as any other medically necessary treatment, and I'll defend that coverage against federal pressure to strip it. On housing, LGBTQIA+ youth are overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, often after being rejected by their own families, and I support dedicated funding for housing programs and shelters equipped to serve them safely, alongside the state's existing non-discrimination protections in housing. On employment, I support enforcing Washington's existing protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and closing gaps in how those protections reach small employers and rural workplaces where enforcement is thinnest. I also support the ability to update gender markers on state documents to match a person's identity, because a driver's license that doesn't match who you are creates real friction in getting a job, renting an apartment, or seeing a doctor. I don't have a protection on this list I'd decline to support.

6. What would you say directly to your own LGBTQA+ community?

You don't have to wonder where I stand or guess at what I mean when I say I'll fight for you. I mean your healthcare, your housing, your ability to walk through Chelan, Wenatchee, or Monroe without bracing for how someone might treat you. With my little brother, I was the first one he talked to after he found out that he couldn’t donate blood in high school. Friends and acquaintances know that I am scrappy and I stand up for injustices when I see them. I grew up as a mixed-race military kid who moved constantly and spent a lot of years being the person people made assumptions about before they knew anything about me. I don't claim that's the same as your experience, but it's part of why I take it personally when someone else's identity gets treated as a debate topic instead of a life. You have a seat at my dining room table, not just my ballot line. I'll show up.