Meet the write-in candidate who quietly campaigned against state Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen

A candidate running in Pierce County for a seat in the state Legislature didn’t want some to know he was campaigning.

The secret’s out.

Cameron Severns recently filed as a Democrat and will run against incumbent Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen (R) to represent the 25th Legislative District in the state House. Their names will be on the ballot for the general election in November.

Severns is a write-in candidate who declared his candidacy on Aug. 1, according to a news release from the Pierce County Auditor’s Office. Under state law, people can declare themselves as a write-in candidate until 8 p.m. on election night.

Write-in candidates who get at least 1 percent of the total votes and are one of the top two vote-getters in the primary will appear on the general election ballot. They also appear in the printed and virtual voter’s pamphlet, according to the news release.

Severns got 525 votes, about 2.3 percent in the primary Aug. 2. Jacobsen got 20,277, 89.7 percent of the votes. There were 22,613 total votes cast, according to the primary election results.

“This republic depends on having two sets of opinions at least,” Severns said. “We can’t have any race — no matter how competitive or non-competitive it’s going to be — be uncontested.”

This is not the first time a write-in candidate has made it to the general election ballot, said Pierce County elections supervisor Kyle Haugh. This situation is “not super common but not rare,” he said.

The most recent write-in candidate Haugh remembers making the general election is Kit Burns, who ran for Pierce County Council in 2016. Another past write-in candidate who advanced was Sharon Hanek, who ran for the state Treasurer’s seat in 2012.

Severns is an insurance agent who lives in the Summit-Waller area with his wife, four parrots and two dogs. He attended Rocky Mountain College in Montana and Central Valley High School in Spokane.

Severns is active in his local church in South Hill — he leads a recovery ministry and teaches Sunday school. He also holds the treasurer seat for Rahab’s Rising, a nonprofit geared toward helping victims of sex trafficking.

Severns is one of the precinct committee officers for the local Democratic party. When he is not doing his day-to-day job or spending time at church, fishing and watching sports are some of his favorite pastimes.

Becoming an official write-in candidate is “a pretty wild story,” Severns said. When he and his wife realized nobody filed to run against the incumbent, they wondered if they should try to get on the ballot.

“We got some friends to help us and we door knocked,” Severns said. “We kept it quiet so that the local GOP wouldn’t know.”

Severns said he didn’t want the local GOP to know he was running because he thought they might’ve convinced voters to write-in someone else instead, “locking” him out of the election.

What the candidates want to do in office

A lot more door knocking will happen between now and November, Severns said. His team will do their best to raise money, make pamphlets and spread the word about his goals, he said.

If he gets a seat to represent the 25th Legislative District, he said he will advocate for getting Puyallup’s new public safety building built. Another goal he wants to focus on is building more affordable housing. He also plans to maintain and protect women’s health rights — specifically the right to abortion — following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“There’s nothing to lose by stepping into the arena … . Obviously, I’m not an experienced politician. I’m just a regular working-class guy,” Severns said. “I’m gonna continue to speak my mind and talk about common sense, simple solutions.”

Severns, 35, is endorsed by Puyallup City Council member Robin Farris. He had raised $5,400 as of Aug. 31. Individuals have donated to his campaign so far.

Jacobsen, 62, is endorsed by groups such as The Washington Food Industry Association and the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association. She had raised over $86,000 as of Aug. 31.

Groups such as the Manufactured Housing Communities of Washington, West Coast Mobile Homes Parks, Inc. and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians have donated to Jacobsen’s campaign.

“I expect the democratic process to go through and be followed,” Jacobsen said about Severns. “He joined in, jumped in the water and that’s fine.”

Jacobsen was elected to the Puyallup City Council in 2017 and began serving the following year. She represented District 2. She’s served in the state legislative seat since 2021.

“My husband and I are fiscal conservatives, and we want to make sure that our money in our own house is spent wisely,” Jacobsen said. “I felt that I could contribute on the council and in the Legislature with the experience of raising seven kids on a shoestring.”

One of Jacobsen’s accomplishments in the state Legislature was passing a bill that requires four-year colleges to disclose the cost of textbooks needed for a course, she said.

She said law enforcement is an important issue to her, and that she believes there are laws currently “handcuffing” officers, hampering their ability to pursue suspects.

When asked why Jacobsen wants to continue serving in the state Legislature, she said: “there’s still work to be done.”

The general election is Nov. 8.

Correction: An initial version of this article mischaracterized Jacobsen’s term on the Puyallup City Council. She was elected in 2017.