Talk:Kevin Ranker

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Hello- I'm a communications officer for Sen. Kevin Ranker here in Washington State and he has asked me to help expand his Wikipedia page. We were hoping you could go over the information and citations below and update his page accordingly. Thank you for your help and time.

Kevin Ranker is an American politician who is a member of the Democratic Party. He has represented the 40th Legislative District in the Washington State Senate since 2009.[1][2]

Prior to his election to the Senate, Ranker served as San Juan County Commissioner and was a Senior Fellow at the Ocean Foundation. In 2011, he was appointed as an Advisor to President Obama's National Ocean Council. He is also President of Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a statutory partnership of of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington in the United States and British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and the Yukon in Canada that coordinates energy, economic and environmental strategies and works to increase economic well-being and enhance the competitiveness of the region.[3]

Ranker was first elected in 2008, winning 58.6% of the vote against Republican Steve Van Luven.[4] He was re-elected in 2012 with 62.9% of the vote, defeating Republican John Swapp.[5]

Ranker lives on Orcas Island with his wife and daughter; his son proudly serves in the U.S. Navy.[3]

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Legislative accomplishments

Ranker’s legislative priorities have included defending and advancing issues of equality and women’s reproductive choice and environmental protection.

In 2012, Ranker played a key role in helping Washington become the seventh state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Ranker, a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 6239, delivered a memorable speech on the Senate floor the night of the bill’s passage. [1] In 2013, Ranker was an outspoken advocate leading opposition against legislation known as the “License to Hate” that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against lesbian and gay customers (http://www.king5.com/news/politics/Senator-GOP-bill-would-be-a-License-to-hate-204932561.html)

In 2011, he was the prime sponsor of the top priority legislation for NARAL Pro-Choice, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU to create greater accountability for Limited Service Pregnancy Centers making sure that all women, regardless of their economic situation, have equal access to information about the kind of pregnancy care they'll receive. (http://www.aclu-wa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/health_care.pdf) In 2012 and 2013 Ranker led discussions regarding concerns over the increasing influence of religious organizations over state health care access, ultimately requesting an Attorney General Opinion to clarify questions regarding the use of public funding for health care institutions that limit services due to religious beliefs. (http://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?&id=31348)

In 2013, Washington Conservation Voters, a leading environmental advocacy group in the state, awarded Ranker their highest honor naming him their 2013 Legislator of the Year [2] for his work to address climate change, protect the citizen initiative I-937 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Initiative_937) and beat back Republican efforts to weaken environmental protection laws.

Ranker’s work to help revive Washington State’s housing market received accommodation in 2011 when the Washington Association of REALTORS selected him as their Legislative Champion for his sponsorship of legislation to protect property owners, prospective homeowners and relators in the state. http://blog.senatedemocrats.wa.gov/ranker/washington-realtors-present-senator-kevin-ranker-prestigious-legislative-champion-award-at-annual-meeting-in-spokane/

Ranker is the first Washington State Legislator to have received the highest honors from both the Washington Association of REALTORS as well as the Washington Conservation Voters.

Ranker also was named 2011 Legislator of the Year by the Washington State Parks Foundation for his work to develop sustainable funding to keep Washington State Parks and other important recreational Fish and Wildlife and Department of Natural Resources lands open through the creation of the Discover Pass - recognizing that outdoor recreation in Washington State contributes more than $11.7 billion annually to the state economy, supports 115,000 jobs across the state.

(http://www.rco.wa.gov/doc_pages/press/2013/109.shtml)

(http://blog.senatedemocrats.wa.gov/ranker/kevin-ranker-awarded-legislator-of-the-year-from-washington-state-parks-foundation/)

In 2012, Ranker received the Humane Legislator of the Year award from the National Humane Society for his work to eliminate the horrible practice of shark finning throughout Washington State.

(http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2012/02/animal_advocates_lobby_02212012.html)

Nobody appears to be manning the Request Edit queue, so I apologize for the long wait. However, I note most of the material above is cited to primary sources, blogs and press releases. It also uses language like "top priority" and "legislative accomplishments" that are not neutral. Probably part of the reason nobody has answered is because it is a large wall of text and does not point out any factual errors or major BLP problems that would raise more urgency. Meanwhile it is a lot of content to look through that is mostly poorly-sourced and over-editorialized. A couple examples "recognizing that outdoor recreation" or primary sources for awards. CorporateM (Talk) 17:18, 24 May 2014 (UTC)