EVERETT — After nearly a decade in the Legislature, state Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, announced Tuesday she will not seek reelection when her current term ends.<\/p>\n
Eslick, 76, represents District 39, which covers most of Snohomish and Skagit counties. Her current term ends Jan. 11, 2027, before the next legislative session starts on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n
Eslick originally planned to run for reelection, and had even registered for the August primary on Oct. 9<\/a>.<\/p>\n “After the session last year, I was thinking very hard about continuing at that point,” Eslick said in an interview Wednesday. “It is so difficult to make big changes in Olympia.”<\/p>\n She decided she “could do anything for two months,” she said, and so registered for the primary and began the 2026 legislative session.<\/p>\n However, during the session, she and her family dealt with health issues that “require more attention,” but nothing critical, Eslick said.<\/p>\n “It made it difficult for me to work away from home,” she said. “So a month into it, I knew that this had to be my last year.”<\/p>\n Her decision to step away “reflects a desire” to devote more time to work that supports families and improves behavioral health services, where her work has “always been centered,” Eslick said in the release.<\/p>\n Eslick first became a state lawmaker in 2017. Before that, she served on the Sultan City Council from 1996 to 2002, and as Sultan’s mayor from 2008 to 2017. She also founded GROW Washington, a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs start and grow small businesses.<\/p>\n “It has been an honor to represent the people of the 39th District,” Eslick said in the release. “I’m thankful for the trust they placed in me and for the opportunity to work on issues that matter to families across our state.”<\/p>\n She will continue to stay active in the community and help connect people to support and services they need, she said.<\/p>\n “Retirement is not in my vocabulary,” Eslick said Wednesday. “Retirement means you might as well just go die.”<\/p>\n Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com<\/a>; X: @BTayOkay<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Republican Carolyn Eslick hopes to devote more time to work that supports families and improves behavioral health services. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1040,"featured_media":894633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[954,2,1024],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-news","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/heraldnet.com\/2026\/03\/31\/sultan-lawmaker-will-not-seek-reelection-when-her-term-ends\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"‘Had to be my last year’: Sultan lawmaker will not seek reelection","url":"http:\/\/www.heraldnet.com\/2026\/03\/31\/sultan-lawmaker-will-not-seek-reelection-when-her-term-ends\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.heraldnet.com\/2026\/03\/31\/sultan-lawmaker-will-not-seek-reelection-when-her-term-ends\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.heraldnet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/03\/41957692_web1_L1-ESLICK-EDH-221108-FS.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.heraldnet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/03\/41957692_web1_L1-ESLICK-EDH-221108-FS.jpg"},"articleSection":"Elections","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Taylor Scott Richmond"}],"creator":["Taylor Scott Richmond"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"HeraldNet.com","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-03-31T23:57:00Z","datePublished":"2026-03-31T23:57:00Z","dateModified":"2026-04-01T20:52:53Z"},"rendered":"