Rep. Jenny Graham (R-Spokane) will be leaving the Washington legislature after the 2026 term, which is set to come to a close March 12.
She made the announcement that she wouldn't seek another term in February, calling her time in office "the honor of [her] lifetime."
In her eight years representing District 6, which is composed of northwestern Spokane County, the Republican lawmaker has focused much of her time and energy on criminal justice and victim advocacy, including serving as the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Community Safety.
"If I've done nothing else in my entire time that I've been there, I have made sure that crime victims were being heard, even when they were being silenced," she said in an interview with SPR.
She sat down to talk about what she's learned from her time in Olympia, a controversy that brought her into the limelight during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what comes next as she leaves the state House.
Editor's note: This interview was conducted before March 12, the last day of the legislative session. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
OWEN HENDERSON: Jenny Graham has served as one of Spokane County's legislative representatives for the last eight years, but last month she announced she won't be seeking another term in the Washington House of Representatives.
She joins me now, though, to talk about her tenure representing District 6 in Olympia. Rep. Graham, thank you so much for your time this morning.
JENNY GRAHAM: Well, thank you for inviting me, Owen.
OH: So, public safety and victim advocacy have been some of your biggest focuses during your time as a lawmaker, and I know we're still in the middle of a rather contentious legislative session, but as you start to look back at the rest of your work in Olympia, what are you most proud of?
JG: Well, I believe that my legacy will be, and already is, that I do stand up for the voice of crime victims. What I've seen in the last eight years that I've been there, unfortunately, is that it is a toxic work environment, not only for lawmakers like me, but for crime victims.
Oftentimes, I've watched them be silenced, censored, shamed, and totally looked over regarding different policy. It does take somebody really strong to push back, especially when you're in the minority, to say, ‘We need to be able to hear from everybody.’
And if I've done nothing else in my entire time that I've been there, I have made sure that crime victims were being heard, even when they were being silenced.
OH: You know, you've mentioned a sort of toxic environment, and I'm curious if that was one of the factors that led you to not seek another term.
JG: That is partially part of it. The problem that I'm seeing is the unwillingness to look at or accept that there are individuals that are dangerous. It's not being taken seriously in this state.
And, you know, all you have to do is watch committee hearings, watch the floor debates, watch the policy that's coming out of the legislature.
Look at the bills that I have introduced that have not even received a hearing that are reasonable when we're talking about keeping people safe, which is something that all of us want.
And the number one thing I believe that is expected of us is to take those things into consideration fairly. And given the environment that's in the legislature right now, it is extraordinarily unbalanced.
If we're going to pass these bills, shouldn't we make sure that we have some idea of what it's going to look like on the other side? Is it fair policy that's being passed? The people that are expected to follow it, are they going to be able to follow it? Or is this going to be, ‘We're going to pass this legislation and if you don't follow it, we're just going to fine you until you do.’ And they're not able to do it because it's not feasible to do it to begin with.
And then we're back the next session and we're trying to fix a problem that we created because the bill wasn't fully worked in the best way that I feel that it should have been.
OH: I recently spoke with a couple of newly elected first term city council members here in Spokane about what they're learning. And as you are now in your final year, I'm curious, if you look back at your time as a legislator, what are some of the things that you've been able to learn in your time in Olympia? How have you learned to work with people? What are the lessons that you're taking away?
JG: Well, that was me. I hadn't held office before I ran for and won that position. And I'm exceedingly grateful.
You know, there's a path that I've been on. This is part of that path that I believe I was always meant to do.
I may not have known the policies per se because it is like you have three fire hoses coming at you all at once. You know, you're trying to figure out who's who and what are the rules and that.
So there is definitely a learning curve that is involved. Certainly having a backbone and having thick skin is another part of it because this is not an easy job.
So I do have a bit of an understanding for what the newly elected city council members or anybody else that gets elected into these positions are going through because I did.
And I will tell you that it does take courage and it does take conviction to stand up for what you believe is right, even if it's your own side that you feel is doing something that's not right.
OH: In 2020, you got a lot of attention—you got a lot of criticism—after The Inlander published a story about you sharing some social media posts that linked to websites with conspiracy theories and that you left a reporter an angry voicemail.
I don't want to relitigate any of that. That is not what I'm here to do. What I want to ask you is how that incident changed you and might have been an inflection point in your time in office. I want to hear your reflections.
JG: Number one, it was exceedingly personal. I have a sister who was being sex trafficked, and she was murdered by a serial killer because she was in his path. So when I think about the kids that are being subjected to that, it is not conspiracy theory to me. It is real.
I gave that reporter an hour-long interview. No questions were off limits. Everything was answered honestly. It was recorded. I didn't care. I told the truth.
So when the article ended up coming out, he left out that actual lived experience, trying to make this look different than what it was.
There was something in there about QAnon, a link or something that I didn't know anything about. I certainly didn't know what QAnon was at that point, but he did.
And was I angry? Yes. He released that article at the anniversary of my sister's murder. He knew. He knew that that was not what that was all about. And yet he did that anyway.
Could I have chosen different words? Yes, I could have. But neither during that time or present time have I ever apologized. I will not. I will not. It was me who was wronged, not that reporter.
And I hope if nothing else, he's learned a lesson.
OH: I know you have a legislative session to finish first, but do you have any ideas about what might be coming after you leave Olympia? Do you have any plans to stay involved in policymaking?
JG: In a roundabout way, yes. Again, this is a path that I've been on, and I was fortunate that the people trusted me to do this.
There's more than one way to drive policy, and I am absolutely on that path. I'm doing things in a little bit different way. I can't go into details right now, but I will definitely be involved.
It will just be in a little bit different way than it has been. I'm not done. Not by a long shot.
OH: Well, Rep. Jenny Graham, thank you so much for taking some time out of a busy legislative session to speak with me this morning. I really appreciate it.
JG: Thank you.
OH: This is SPR News.
