For Immediate Release: November 10, 2020
Contact: sarahmuir@prochoicewashington.org
Victory in the 28th Legislative District, T’wina Nobles unseats Anti-Choice Incumbent Senator Steve O’Ban
Washington — After a tight race, Tacoma Urban League CEO T’wina Nobles is now the 28th Legislative District’s Senator-elect. Nobles’ victory over anti-choice incumbent Senator Steve O’Ban marks a huge win for reproductive freedom and flips a critical seat in the Washington State Senate. Nobles’ vision to improve healthcare access and to fix Washington’s regressive tax code will help ensure that families in the 28th Legislative District can access the critical healthcare they need to be safe and healthy.
Incumbent Steve O’Ban, who served in the State Senate since 2013, is an anti-choice extremist who relentlessly attacked reproductive healthcare access during his time in office. O’Ban voted against many of the bills that NARAL Pro-Choice Washington prioritized in recent years, including Mandatory Comprehensive Sex Education (SB 5395), which passed through the legislature in March. In a demonstration of Washington’s pro-choice values, voters showed up to support Senator-elect Nobles and to overwhelmingly Approve Referendum 90 to ensure that SB 5395 is enacted into law.
In response to T’wina Nobles’ victory, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Political Director Lillian Lanier released the following statement:
“T’wina Nobles is exactly the kind of leader we need in the Washington State Senate, and NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and our members are proud to have helped turn out the vote to flip this critical seat. Time and time again, Senator O’Ban has voted against reproductive freedom legislation, and thus against the values of his constituents. His actions have proved that he is out of touch with the community in the 28th Legislative District, and his steadfast anti-choice extremism has cost him his seat. We are thrilled to have T’wina Nobles in the State Senate, and know she will be an outspoken champion who will fight to expand reproductive healthcare access for all patients that she represents.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington’s PAC endorsed T’wina Nobles as one of the 103 candidates we endorsed in the 2020 election cycle to champion reproductive healthcare access for all Washingtonians.
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NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the leading grassroots pro-choice advocacy organization in Washington state, and we believe that every woman should be able to make personal decisions about the full range of reproductive health options. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington works to protect every woman’s right to access the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
