QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.  

Ybarra has been in the House since 2019, and said that moving to the Senate would be a way to continue working on important issues, starting with energy. 

“Obviously, it’s going to be energy right now, because it’s important to Grant County,” Ybarra said. 

Access to affordable energy has played a key role in boosting and diversifying the county’s economy, he said, and it’s important to ensure a continued supply. 

“Without energy there’s no economic development,” he said.  

Water would be another major focus. 

“Water is a big deal, especially where we live,” he said. 

Communities throughout the Columbia Basin are looking for alternate water sources due to the depletion of the aquifer that supplies most of the drinkable water. Groundwater irrigation has contributed to that depletion, and after a decades-long effort, some farms are converting to surface water irrigation. Ybarra said he supports that project. 

Legislation passed over the last few years has made it more difficult to be a farmer or a farmworker in Washington, he said, and he wants to work on ways to alleviate some of those impacts. 

Ybarra was a member of the Quincy School Board, and said that he’s concerned about state spending and its effect on schools. Spending has increased substantially, and among the results has been less funding for colleges and K-12 schools, he said. If he’s elected, he would advocate for spending reductions and reallocation of some funding to get the state’s money back where it needs to be, he said.