Sharonda Amamilo

How this candidate is likely to rule, and why.

Sharonda Amamilo is a genuine question mark on the Culliton question, and the honest reading of the available record supports that uncertainty rather than resolving it.

She is the first African American judge in Thurston County's history, a former public defender and private practitioner with nearly two decades of legal experience, and a sitting Thurston County Superior Court judge who handles child welfare, family law, and administrative appeals including multi-million-dollar tax disputes.

Her endorsers include Justice Helen Whitener, who voted with the Quinn majority, and judges and attorneys across western Washington's Democratic-leaning bar. She is pursuing Democratic legislative district endorsements.

But her stated judicial philosophy is notably more formal and process-centered than her endorsement coalition might suggest: she has described her approach using a 'FIRE' framework emphasizing Facts, Issues, Rules, and Exceptions, has stated that 'every perceived wrong doesn't necessarily have a legal remedy,' and has emphasized careful scrutiny of recommendations and fidelity to the written law.

The stare decisis framing in her public materials leans more formal-conservative than reformist. Her coalition wants her to vote to scrap Culliton; her stated methodology is more cautious. That gap is what keeps the lean at 'unclear' rather than a confident scrap signal.

• Whitener endorsement as Quinn-bloc signal

  Justice G. Helen Whitener, who signed the 7-2 Quinn majority and whose appointment in 2020 was flagged by Tax Notes State as potentially opening the door to Culliton revisitation, has endorsed Amamilo. Whitener's endorsement of Amamilo rather than Angelis for Position 5 is the most direct institutional signal in Amamilo's favor from the scrap coalition.

  It does not guarantee a scrap vote, but it suggests that at least one justice in the Quinn majority believes Amamilo is more favorable than neutral on the income tax question.

• Multi-million-dollar tax disputes in superior court

  Amamilo's Seattle Medium profile indicates her Thurston County Superior Court docket includes 'multi-million-dollar tax disputes' and review of agency decisions with statewide implications. That language suggests she has reviewed administrative tax assessments at the trial level, which is substantively distinct from the constitutional question in ESSB 6346 but means she is not without any engagement with tax litigation. No specific case names or outcomes have been identified in this research; a direct record search would be needed to evaluate how she has approached tax questions.

• Former public defender orientation with formal-conservative stare decisis framing

  Amamilo's public defense background typically correlates with a civil liberties and pro-defendant orientation that leans toward the progressive coalition. But her public statements on judicial decision-making emphasize the FIRE framework, strict adherence to the written record, and a statement that not every perceived wrong has a legal remedy.

  This is more cautious and formalist than the reform-oriented framing typical of progressive judicial candidates. Taken at face value, it could lead her to find that the Legislature cannot simply relabel an income tax as an excise tax and expect the court to follow the label.

• Low fundraising as electoral risk signal

  Amamilo has raised approximately $10,600 in campaign contributions as of late April 2026, compared to Angelis's $103,000 and Larson's $94,000. That fundraising gap makes it structurally unlikely she advances past the August primary in a three-way race unless significant institutional money enters behind her. The Sentencing Guidelines Commission and DCYF Oversight Board roles in her resume add relevant public-service credentials, but without competitive fundraising those credentials may not reach enough voters.

An analytical read on public signals. Not a prediction of any individual vote.