For Terry Carlson, politics isn’t about red or blue. It’s about bread and butter.
That’s how Machinists union organizer Jessica Deming sums up the appeal of the 47-year-old union Democrat who’s running for state house in Washington’s Republican-leaning 19th Legislative District.
Born and raised in Granite Falls, Washington, Carlson knew from a young age he would follow three generations of men in his family to work in the woods, even if his mother wanted him to go to college instead. He worked for decades as a non-union logger in Forks, Anacortes, and Sedro-Wooley. Then nine years ago he moved to Longview for a job with Weyerhaeuser as operator of a logging processor machine — delimbing and cutting felled trees. It was his first union-represented position. He became a member of Machinists Woodworkers Local 536.
Carlson says the union was life changing for him and his family. Shortly before he started at Weyerhaeuser, his wife got sick and was in a coma for 25 days. Carlson didn’t have health insurance, so the hospital bills bankrupted the family. But as a union member, he received a $10-an-hour raise over what he made as a non-union logger, worked significantly fewer hours, and got health insurance. Those union benefits helped his family get back on their feet.
The experience changed how he saw work, politics and his own role in his community.
“I say it all the time on the campaign trail: Organized labor is the purest form of social justice we have,” Carlson said. “To go in and organize the community, you can uplift everyone if you’re in a small area and there is one major employer who is keeping wages low … basically keeping their boot on the necks of workers. For me, that was the inspiration in (running for office).”
Washington’s 19th Legislative District runs from Longview to Aberdeen. Carlson is running to unseat three-term Republican incumbent state rep Joel McEntire. The race is a repeat. In 2024 McEntire won with about 62% of the vote. Carlson says this time he’s better positioned to win; he formed a complete campaign team and started campaigning sooner. In the August primary, Carlson got 43%, first place among the four candidates who ran.
“It’s the first time a Democrat has won a primary in this district since 2018,” Carlson said. “It didn’t really surprise me because we worked really really hard over the last couple of years.”
Carlson says his platform focuses on “the normal stuff,” like affordable housing, affordable healthcare, and job creation. His opponent overlooks those issues and focuses on the “culture war” instead, Carlson said.
McEntire, a Marine Corps reservist and former teacher from Cathlamet, lists similar legislative priorities as Carlson on his campaign website. But his lifetime voting record is 18% in support of labor, as rated on the Washington State Labor Council’s Legislative scorecard.
Carlson, meanwhile, sticks to bread and butter issues.
“He builds relationships that focus on labor issues,” says Machinists District Lodge W24 representative Deming, who mentored Carlson during a two-month internship focused on labor organizing. “He’s able to have conversations that can bring people to the middle.”
Carlson is entering his third year as the president of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council (CLC) and takes seriously his duty to be the “face of labor” in the two mostly rural counties. Carlson also voluntarily attends most meetings of the Longview-Kelso Building Trades Council.
Through those meetings, he learned about the Port of Longview’s decision to hire Rotschy, a non-union construction company that racked up a long list of safety violations in the last four years. Carlson joined a group of unionists who tried to push the Port to drop the contract. That didn’t happen, but the Port did hire additional safety compliance staff to keep an eye on the worksite.
Six months ago, Carlson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a degenerative nerve disease. It meant he would need a less physically demanding job, but he wanted to stay in the labor movement. He found a position with American Income Life, a Dallas-based life insurance company represented by Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 277. (AIL employees work remotely.)
Carlson hasn’t let the diagnosis slow him down.
After the implosion of a white liquor container at the Nippon Dynawave pulp mill in Longview, Carlson played a role in raising money for families affected by the disaster. Mike Bridges, president of the Kelso Longview Building Trades Council, says internet scammers tried to earn money off of grieving families with fake fundraisers to support them. Carlson and the CLC stepped in and set up a dedicated bank account to collect donations, so people would know their money was going where it was intended.
“Terry is reliable. When he says he will be somewhere, he shows up,” Bridges said. “And he’s there not for the photo opp, but to be behind the scenes.”
Deming, the organizing mentor from the Machinists, said Carlson has a disarming sense of humor that opens people up to deeper conversations. People who meet him walk away feeling like they’ve known him for years, she said.
“Terry is a really loving, charming person, but don’t mistake his niceness for weakness,” Deming said. “Terry is absolutely in the fight and knows how to hold the line and stand up for the people he represents against opposition in any form.”
