Millions in federal dollars for Tacoma infrastructure could shift depending on who wins Washington's 6th Congressional District seat Nov. 3.
Incumbent Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat, has requested roughly $12.9 million in fiscal year 2027 earmarks for four Pierce County projects, including $7.65 million toward replacing the closed Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge. Republican challenger Teresa Fox has centered her campaign on redirecting federal shipyard spending to workers in Bremerton, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.
The Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge, built in 1927, has been closed to traffic since October 2023 after a failed safety inspection. The closure cut off a route used by up to 15,000 vehicles daily and disrupted the Puyallup Tribe of Indians' access to resources.
Randall's earmark requests
Randall secured nearly $18 million for 15 district-wide projects in fiscal year 2026, according to a Jan. 23 press release from her office. Two Pierce County projects made that list: $2 million for the Northwest Seaport Alliance berth deepening on the Blair Waterway and $500,000 for corridor improvements on Taylor Way in Fife.
Her fiscal year 2027 requests go bigger in Pierce County. The four proposals total roughly $12.9 million:
- $7.65 million for Phase 2 of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge replacement, covering environmental review, final design and right-of-way acquisition
- $2.8 million for building improvements at the Alberta J. Canada Apartments, a Tacoma Housing Authority project serving low-income elderly residents
- $1.5 million for a new roundabout on the Key Peninsula
- $905,692 for the University of Puget Sound to replace a confocal microscope used for live-cell imaging research
Those proposals have not been finalized. The News Tribune reported their status likely will not be confirmed until late 2026 or early 2027.
The bridge earmark request is separate from a $7.6 million federal BUILD grant the City of Tacoma received in July for the same project phase. That grant covers most of a $9.6 million environmental analysis and design effort, with Tacoma and Fife splitting a $2 million local match. Design work is projected to start in December and wrap up by December 2027.
The full bridge replacement is expected to cost at least $263 million. Tacoma Weekly reported a funding gap of roughly $300 million remains.
Tacoma City Council District 4 Member Sandesh Sadalge told Tacoma Weekly the bridge was the first topic he raised when he met with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. "We do not have the resources to address this challenge on our own and need state and federal support," Sadalge said.
Fox's shipyard focus
Fox, a first-time candidate who spent seven years overseeing safety operations at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, has made Bremerton's shipyard her central funding priority. She argues the Navy's Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization program sends too much money to consultants and administrators in Washington, D.C., instead of to dry docks and workers.
On her campaign website, Fox wrote that prioritizing maritime technologies over immediate fleet maintenance "put both national security and local jobs at risk."
Fox has also called for lower taxes and less business regulation. She has not outlined specific Pierce County project requests comparable to Randall's earmarks.
The fundraising gap
The two candidates enter the final stretch with vastly different war chests. As of the July 15 Federal Election Commission reporting deadline, Randall had raised $1,195,246 and spent $981,488, the Peninsula Daily News reported. Fox had raised $27,615, with her own $5,000 contribution as the largest single deposit.
Randall took 60.24 percent of the primary vote in August.
What's next
Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can return them at a drop box or mail them postmarked by Election Day. Drop box locations and sample ballots are available at the Pierce County elections website.
