Paid political advertisement. The views expressed are those of the advertiser and do not reflect the views or endorsement of K & L Media, Bellingham Alive Magazine, its staff, or its ownership.
Third-generation Blaine resident, clinical psychologist, elected Blaine School Board Director, mother of three, small business owner—yet Dr. Erika Creydt tends to open conversations the same way: “Hi, I’m Erika, and I’m your neighbor.”
For a candidate running for the Washington State Senate in the 42nd Legislative District, it is a strikingly modest introduction. Erika Creydt is a third-generation Blaine resident and a mother of three. She was raised in the local schools, and is now raising her own children here with her husband Jesse. For more than two decades, she has worked as a clinical psychologist with Whatcom County families and operated small businesses with her husband. Creydt holds a doctorate in clinical psychology. She has built her career in youth mental health and stopping youth suicide. Together with her husband and concerned community members she formed the Healthy Youth Coalition to stop youth suicide. Creydt also founded the Youth Crisis Walk-In Center in Everson, which helps families in Whatcom County when they have a youth in crisis.
Creydt is the longest-serving current member of the Blaine School Board, elected to represent District 1. What Creydt offers voters, she says, is not a platform stitched together in a campaign war room. It is the accumulated experience of over 20 years of listening.
“I’ve spent my career sitting with parents and youth in their darkest moments,” Creydt says. “Kids who have been missed. Parents who have done everything right and still feel unheard. Teachers who are holding things together that the rest of us never see. When you listen that long, you learn what people actually need, not what sounds good.”
Friends and colleagues describe Creydt as a problem-solver first and a politician second, and she seems to prefer it that way.
Her approach to public service has a name she uses often: “Heart. Service. Whatcom.” Three words that, taken together, describe what she believes the job of a state senator ought to be.
“Whatcom County is not a talking point,” Creydt says. “It is home. The families here deserve a senator who shows up, listens, and actually works on what people are dealing with. Schools that serve every kid. Mental health care that reaches the people who need it. Public safety that communities trust. A local economy that works for the people.”
Creydt’s campaign has quickly become known for the breadth of its cross-party support. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have shown up for her publicly and endorsed her, including at her April kickoff at Fox Hall in Blaine, which filled past capacity and drew sitting state senators who traveled to speak on her behalf.
Creydt does not frame her candidacy in partisan terms, though her opponents may try to frame it that way. She is truly there to represent us all.
“I’m not running against anyone,” she says. “I’m running for you—my people…That is the whole thing.” Learn more about Creydt at erikaforwhatcom.com, and follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/erika4whatcom. Paid for by Erika Creydt for State Senate, erikaforwhatcom.com
Photograph courtesy of Dr. Erika Creydt
