Edgewood City Councilmember Nate Lowry has filed to run for state Representative from the 31st Legislative District.

“The residents of the 31st District deserve strong leadership,” Lowry said. “They deserve someone who will go to Olympia and stand up for their schools, their health care, their pocketbook and their community’s small businesses. Our district has lost that voice, and I will go to Olympia and fight for our residents.”

Morgan Irwin, whom the combined King and Pierce County councils appointed to the seat in January, is running for election.

From 2012 until his election to the Edgewood City Council in 2015, Lowry was on the City of Edgewood Planning Commission, which he served as vice chair for from 2013 to 2015.

On the City Council, Lowry said, he has worked to protect small businesses along Edgewood’s development corridor and saved taxpayers $230,000 on the refinancing of City Hall. He said he has also worked to improve public safety in the area by adding police officer coverage in the community.

Born and raised in the North Hill/Edgewood area, Lowry attended Puyallup public schools. After working his way through college and earning his bachelors in Landscape Architecture from Washington State University, Lowry went to work for several design-build companies out of college, eventually moving up to work for a Top 150, nationally-recognized, multi-disciplinary engineering firm. He earned his Landscape Architect license in 2010. He started two small businesses during the recession, specializing in commercial fencing and landscape architecture design. After weathering the worst of the recession and creating jobs with his small businesses, Lowry said, in December 2014, he returned to full-time work at a landscape architecture design-build firm.

In kicking off his campaign, Lowry announced a series of mini town halls he’ll host throughout the district to hear directly from constituents on the issues they want addressed in Olympia, ranging from making the tax system fairer to education funding and fixing transportation.

The first town hall is at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 3, at Urban Timber Coffee, Microbrew & Wine in Sumner.

“People are frustrated with their government. They do not feel heard or represented,” Lowry said. “I want our residents to know I am responsive, dedicated, and will be a strong voice in Olympia for the people of the 31st district.”