Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Who the heck is Tonya Stadlman?

My name is Tonya Stadlman — a married mother of three grown children, PCO for the Rainier Precinct, LD 44, a full-time property manager, an empowerment coach by heart, and a woman who spent years quietly building strength, resilience, and courage long before I ever imagined stepping into the world of politics.

By day, I manage large multifamily communities — where I see, firsthand, the real challenges families, workers, and small businesses face.

I am someone who has lived enough life to know that change doesn’t start in a committee room — it starts with people. With stories. With lived experience. With the courage to say, “Something isn’t working, and pretending it is won’t fix it.”

I’ve struggled. I’ve failed forward. I’ve rebuilt myself more than once. And every chapter — the highs and the hard — added depth to my voice, clarity to my purpose, and conviction to my message.

I’m a writer, an empowerment coach, and a yogi, and I'm currently working toward my B.A. with a focus in Ayurveda — a healing philosophy centered on balance, clarity, and accountability. It’s a field that has shaped my life and deeply influenced the foundation of Restorative Accountability long before it had a name.

My philosophy is simple: Compassion with expectations. Help with a pathway. Accountability that restores — not destroys.

Why I Stepped Into Leadership (When I Never Planned To)

Who in their right mind jumps into politics?

I believed, like many, that the “system” was working.
That the people in office were doing their jobs.
That communities were protected.
That programs were helping.
That common sense still existed somewhere in Olympia.

And then… reality proved otherwise.

I watched systems fail families like mine.
I watched programs meant to heal instead hurt.
I watched crime rise, accountability disappear, and decisions being made without the people those decisions affected.
I watched good intentions turn into bad policy — leaving the sick sicker, the poor poorer, and the addicted more addicted.

And at some point, sitting back was no longer an option.

I didn’t choose politics.
Politics chose me — the moment I realized silence helps no one.

So I stepped in.
Not because I thought it would be easy.
But because I knew it was necessary.

My mission is simple:
To restore accountability in systems that have lost it
and restore confidence in communities that need it.

I want to raise standards, raise expectations, and raise hope for the people of Washington State — beginning in LD 44 and expanding outward.

I'm NOT Running For Office - Yet

But I Am Stepping Up

I’m stepping up to be a voice for the people who feel unheard.
I’m stepping up to lead with love, truth, and courage — not fear or division.
I’m stepping up to speak life and hope into a state that is hurting, overwhelmed, and in many ways dying from a lack of accountability and compassion.

I’m stepping up because Washington deserves leaders who don’t just criticize what’s broken —
But care enough to fix it.

Leaders who don’t shame people —
But lift them.

Leaders who don’t enable harmful systems —
But rebuild them with integrity, clarity, and purpose.

I’m stepping up for the families who want to feel safe again.
For the communities fighting to be heard.
For the people lost in the gaps of programs meant to help them, but that ended up leaving them behind.
For the parents, workers, seniors, small businesses, and everyday Washingtonians who feel like decisions are being made around them, not for them.

I am stepping up to raise the bar —
in leadership, compassion, and accountability.

I am stepping up to heal what politics has harmed,
to restore what neglect has broken,
and to give voice to people who deserve better than the choices they’ve been handed.

I’m not running for office yet.
But I am running toward Washington —
toward its people, its pain, its potential, and its future.