Nicholas Carlson
WA State House
1st LD, Position 1

I am a lifelong resident of the Seattle area, and I have lived in Bothell for the last twenty years. I graduated from Inglemoor High School in 2002 and entered the University of Washington, Seattle that autumn. My particular academic interests were international security studies and German linguistics. I graduated in August 2005 with a double-major in International Studies and Political Science. That winter I served as an intern in Representative Jay Inslee’s Shoreline office and then applied for graduate schools. In 2006 and 2007, I attended University College London in the United Kingdom in an International Public Policy Master of Science program. Upon returning, I got a temporary job at a local financial institution. I have been with them ever since and currently hold a dual position of Human Resources Assistant and Commercial Loan Specialist. Of particular relevance to public policy, my HR function as the company benefits administrator has been quite educational about health care and insurance matters.

Politically, I first became engaged when I was fifteen years old and became an original member of State Senator Rosemary McAuliffe’s Youth Court! Teen Advisory Council. During my four years on the council, I discussed many legislative bills and travelled to Olympia on several occasions to offer testimony at committee hearings. That experience convinced me to pursue public service as a career. While I was at the UW, I served on two local community advisory groups, one for King County DOT and the other for the Woodinville Water District. I found those to be enlightening and enjoyable. My next step was to run as a Democratic Precinct Committee Officer during the 2004 primary. I immediately joined the legislative district party’s Executive Board and have served on it ever since with the exception of my time in London. I am currently the First Vice Chair. In that capacity, I serve in the King County and Washington State Democratic Chairs Organizations. In 2009, I also joined the executive board of the Washington State Progressive Caucus

In the summer of 2009, I purchased a condo in downtown Bothell. Making a new and first home has occupied a lot of my time. Besides that, I try to read at least an hour every day, visit my friends occasionally, volunteer for charitable causes, and prepare myself for a political campaign.