To the editor:

The Democrats have been wiped out nationally, losing control of the presidency, Congress and a majority of the state houses and governorships. There are not a lot of good leaders-in-waiting. And it’s not as if our own house here in Washington state is in good order. If we want others to follow, we need better people and programs.

That’s hard, though, when you have a set of incumbents at the state level who seem pretty happy with the status quo. Incumbents have little reason to rock the boat, for they are virtually assured of reelection. And that’s nowhere more true than here on Bainbridge, in our own 23rd House District. This last election Drew Hansen ran unopposed in both the primary and general. Sherry Appleton, who has now run six times for re-election, won by 16 percent. Wouldn’t you like to have real choice about who will represent you?

California stirred things up, with term limits and top-two primaries, and now it has a big crop of young, energetic and enterprising leaders. A Dec. 7, 2016 New York Times article highlighted 10 there, all but one Democratic, who could go on to the national stage. Four are Hispanic, two are female, and one is Asian.

If we want that kind of leadership, then we, too, need to stir things up. We have pressing needs to reform education, reign in health care costs, and save Puget Sound. We need to raise our expectations of what government can provide, asking not only “What?” but “When?”, and opening the way for new people to move into leadership positions.

ROD STEVENS

Bainbridge Island