Eric Gonzalez for PCO 43-1863

I'm Eric and I'm running for Precinct Committee Officer in the 43rd Legislative District.

ENDORSEMENTS

"I’m endorsing Eric Gonzalez for PCO because I firmly believe in his integrity, dedication, and thoughtful approach to policy issues impacting marginalized communities, including healthcare access, civil liberties, and worker protections. He has built robust coalitions that have effectively and comprehensively helped shape public policy. His lived experience and professional background are assets to the Democratic Party."

Rep. Frank Chopp

43rd Legislative District Representative

"I endorse Eric because, he not only personally understands, he works alongside disenfranchised communities to overcome the barriers to meaningful access to justice. He is a tried and true organizer, one that’s effective at building intersectional movements as folks struggle for justice in these uncertain times."

Graciela Nuñez Pargas

Precinct 43-1863 Resident, Immigrants' Rights Activist

I currently serve as the Legislative Director for a statewide civil liberties organization, addressing the criminal legal punishment system, protecting people from technology assisted surveillance, maintaining and expanding access to health care, advocating for tribal rights, immigrant rights, addressing the homelessness crisis, and upholding the state’s paramount duty of providing quality education to all students in Washington.

I am a first-generation Mexican-American, son of former migrant farmworkers who attained 3rd and 9th grade educations, and who continue to rely on farm jobs for their livelihood. I am also a first-generation college graduate.

I grew up on an orchard in a single-wide, then a double-wide trailer, outside East Wenatchee in the heart of Washington state.

At a young age, I learned to work the fields, laboring alongside family members and new members of the community who struggled but worked hard to realize the ever-fleeting American Dream. Their hardships mirrored those my father endured in the 1970s, traveling job to job in Central Valley, California to the Yakima and Wenatchee Valleys. Their stories informed my perspective throughout my upbringing and they are the foundation to who I am today.

I know that the issues impacting immigrants, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) today are not new – they consistently show up, although packaged differently.

This is why I have dedicated my career to promoting meaningful social and economic justice that is generational, and long overdue.

Ballots are in the Mail for the Primary Election, Aug. 4, 2020

I am running for PCO because I believe in the humility of organizing, the power of protest, and the strength that is created by fighting in solidarity for social and economic justice. This is the ethos I bring to the Democratic Party.

What is the Role of a Precinct Committee Officer?

PCOs are the main point of information and contact for voters in our neighborhood and within the Democratic Party. Precinct Committee Officers, by way of Democratic Party responsibility elect Party leadership, help fill vacancies in elected office, and lead their precinct (in this case 37-1883) caucus every two years.

What are the Boundaries of Precinct 43-1863?

The boundaries of Precinct 43-1863 are 14th Ave. E., (West) Columbia St. (South), 15th Ave. E. (East), Madison St. (North), and a section of 16th. Click on the map to enlarge.

Where is My Nearest Ballot Drop Box?

The following locations are the nearest ballot drop boxes for Precinct 43-1863 voters:

Seattle Central College
Broadway-Edison Building
1701 Broadway
Seattle, WA 98122

Central District Garfield Community Center
2323 E Cherry Street
Seattle, WA 98122

Important Dates To Remember

Statewide Public-Policy Accomplishments

Workers' Rights

I Helped Extend Local Collective Bargaining Rights to Community and Technical College Workers, Led Lobbying Efforts That Defeated a Corporate-led Effort to Lower Farm Worker Piece-Rate Wages, Lobbied to Successfully Pass the Fair Chance Act (Ban the Box), and Establish April 10th as Dolores Huerta Day and March 30th as Cesar Chavez Day in Washington.

Immigrants' Rights

I Led Lobbying Strategy to Keep Washington Working (KWW), Putting an End to Local Law Enforcement Collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Led lobbying strategy on Courts Open to All (COTA), Prohibiting Warrantless Information Sharing Between Local Courts, ICE and CBP, And Lobbied to Protect and Expand the Washington New Americans Program (Naturalization Funding).

Healthcare

I Helped Pass Comprehensive Sex Education in our Public Schools, Expand Reproductive Rights Regardless of Immigration Status, And Establish a Workgroup to Address Pesticide Related Health Disparities in Rural and Agricultural Dependent Communities.

Voting Justice

I Helped Draft and Pass the Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA), Pass a Package of Voting Justice Laws Including Automatic Voter Registration, Same Day Voter Registration, and 16-17 Year-Old Pre-Registration.

Criminal Legal System

I Worked in Coalition to Pass Legal Financial Obligation (LFO) Reform, Put An End the Practice of Prison Based Gerrymandering (Which Impacts Our Elections, Too), and Lobbied to Successfully Pass Responsible Teen Communications Act.

Consumer Protection

I Helped Defeat A MoneyTree Led-Effort to Deregulate Payday Lending Consumer Protections, Defeated Corporate-Friendly Data “Privacy” Legislation (Twice), and Expanded State and Regional Civil Legal Aid Funding.

Education

I Helped Establish State Funding for Dual Language Education in Our Public School System, Expanded College Bound and Opportunity Scholarship to Students Regardless of Immigration Status, Helped Pass the Phasing-out of Youth Status Offenses (Which Contribute to the School to Prison Pipeline) and Helped Pass Breakfast After the Bell.

Fighting For Justice

I currently serve as Secretary on the board of the Unemployment Law Project, and am on the board of the Northwest Health Law Advocates and El Centro Latino in Tacoma.

I previously served on the Dept. of Labor & Industries’ Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act Advisory Board, and as chairperson of the Healthy Washington Coalition and the Farm Worker Coalition.

I volunteer my time on the Policy Subcommittee of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.

More about me

I have dedicated my career to promoting meaningful social and economic justice that is generational, and long overdue.

I served as the Legislative & Policy Director for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, between 2016 and 2019. While there I led strategy on workers’ rights, on and off the jobsite, healthcare, education, voting justice, immigrant rights, civil liberties, and strategies to end mass incarceration.

Prior to WSLC, I served as staff lobbyist for the state’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organization: OneAmerica.

I also worked as the Director of the Equal Justice Coalition, organizing to increase federal and regional funding for Washington civil legal aid programs. These free legal services are essential for helping families in crisis avoid foreclosure, thwart fraudulent and predatory practices, assist victims of domestic violence, and remedy inaccurate, unlawful termination of unemployment, healthcare, and other state supported basic need programs.