ABOUT US
If you care about Washington state, you should be reading the Standard. The Washington State Standard is an independent, nonprofit news organization that produces original reporting on policy and politics. We help readers understand how Washington state government works and how decisions made by those in power affect people living and working here. Our stories shed light on how the state is spending tax dollars, implementing laws and carrying out major projects. At election time, you can turn to us for campaign coverage and during the legislative session we’ll have the latest on all the action in Olympia.
We do not shy away from tough stories and we delve into the state’s most critical issues, like housing, homelessness, education, environmental concerns and criminal justice. We always strive for fairness with our reporting and make sure underrepresented communities have a voice in our coverage. On our commentary pages you can find thought-provoking opinion articles by writers who are not part of our nonpartisan news reporting staff.
As a nonprofit, funded by donations, we have no paywalls, no ads and no subscription fees. Thanks for reading!
The Washington State Standard is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. The Standard retains full editorial independence. Consider a tax-exempt donation to support our work.
Free to Republish
Our articles are available to other outlets under Creative Commons licensing. If you have any questions about republishing, contact us at: [email protected].
Tips, Questions, Comments, Corrections
You can send news tips, feedback and questions to editor, Bill Lucia, via [email protected]. Please also let us know about errors, clarifications or suggestions for followup stories. We appreciate you taking time to do so.
Commentary Submissions
If you would like to write a guest opinion column, please visit our Commentary Submissions Page.
Bill Lucia
Editor-in-Chief
Bill has a decade of experience covering state and local policy and politics, including as a city reporter in Seattle for Crosscut. Most recently, he spent eight years as a reporter and editor for Government Executive’s Route Fifty, an online news journal for state and local public officials that covers trends, challenges and emerging issues in states and localities across the U.S. During his time there, he also reported and oversaw extensive coverage on how federal policy and action by Congress affects the nation’s states, cities and counties. Bill holds a master's in public administration from the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, running and sea kayaking.
Laurel Demkovich
Reporter
Laurel joined States Newsroom after almost three years as a statehouse reporter for the Spokesman-Review where she covered Washington state government, the Legislature and all other happenings in Olympia. An Indiana native, Laurel graduated from Indiana University in 2019 and came to the Evergreen State a year later where she dove in covering the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 elections, the statehouse and more. Before joining the Spokesman-Review, she covered cops and courts during an internship at the Washington Post. She has also interned at the Tampa Bay Times in Florida, the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Western Massachusetts and Archant newspapers in London. In her free time, she enjoys baking, hiking, traveling and dancing in a Seattle-based contemporary and jazz dance company.
Jerry Cornfield
Reporter
Jerry Cornfield started as a crime reporter in San Francisco and spent the better part of the last four decades covering politics and government in California and Washington. He’s worked the last 20 years as the statehouse reporter for The Daily Herald of Everett. Before then, he worked in media for 12 years in Santa Barbara, reporting for daily and weekly newspapers, serving as editor-at-large for Santa Barbara magazine, producing and hosting a daily radio talk show, and appearing regularly as a political commentator on network TV.
Grace Deng
Reporter
Grace Deng (she/they) joined the Washington State Standard shortly after graduating from Northwestern University in June 2023. Grace is a local Washingtonian who was born and raised in Snohomish County. She has previous experience covering statehouse politics and policy for the Minnesota Reformer and the USA TODAY Ohio Network, which includes the Columbus Dispatch, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Akron-Beacon Journal. Her freelance reporting, which is primarily focused on race, equity, disability and identity, has appeared in HuffPost, the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Prism, TheGrio and other publications. Grace lives in downtown Tacoma with her partner and her cat. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, ceramics, crochet, reading YA rom-coms and playing cozy games on her Nintendo Switch.