Vicki Lynne Caldwell Kraft (born 1969) is an American politician serving as a member of the

Washington State House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 dis ...

for the 17th legislative district, serving since 2017. She was reelected in 2018, defeating Democrat Tanisha Harris by a margin of victory of less than 2%. In a 2020 rematch, Kraft beat Harris by approximately 2.2%.

Early life and education

Kraft was raised in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in advertising.

Career

Prior to entering politics, Kraft worked as an account executive for

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

, Pillsbury, and

Frigidaire Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first s ...

. Kraft has promoted false claims of election fraud about the 2020 elections. In the summer of 2021, Kraft was one of three Washington legislators who visited

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

to attend a symposium organized by

My Pillow My Pillow, Inc. (stylized as MyPillow) is an American pillow-manufacturing company based in Chaska, Minnesota.Michael J Lindell"MyPillow HQ moves to Chaska,"Chaska Herald', June 16, 2015. The company was founded in 2009 by Mike Lindell, who inv ...

CEO

Mike Lindell Michael James Lindell (born June 28, 1961), also known as the My Pillow Guy, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing ...

, known for promoting false claims of fraud about the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

. She and the two legislators who attended the event used reimbursed funds from the state legislature's annual travel allotment for events "connected to their legislative work". In August 2021, Kraft and four other state Republican lawmakers held an unofficial hearing with the aim of possibly calling for a "forensic audit" to take place in Washington State similar to the

2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit The 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit, commonly referred to as the Arizona audit, was an examination of ballots cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona initiated by Republicans in the ...

. The group that organized the event invited a speaker who falsely claimed there was voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The same month, Kraft wrote to Secretary of State

Kim Wyman Kimberley Marie Wyman (born July 15, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 15th Secretary of State of Washington from 2013 to 2021. Wyman resigned as Secretary of State on November 19, 2021, to work on election security at the Cyberse ...

calling for a "forensic audit" of Washington's 2020 elections, saying that there was "many questions and issues to be addressed regarding our November 2020 elections." In November 2021, Kraft and 2 other Washington state Republican lawmakers signed a letter calling the 2020 election "corrupted" and demanded that an audit similar to the 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit be conducted in all states. The letter also requested the decertification of state electors from 2020 and inaccurately claimed that the Maricopa audit found evidence of fraud. After the state's redistricting of Washington's legislative map, Kraft's district was drawn out. In December 2021, Kraft announced her intention to run against Rep.

Jaime Herrera Beutler Jaime Lynn Herrera Beutler ( ; born November 3, 1978) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. The district is in southwestern Washington, lying across the Columbia River from Oregon's Portland met ...

Personal life

In 2007, Kraft moved to Washington. She lives in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, with her husband.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Vicki 1969 births 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Michigan State University alumni Women state legislators in Washington (state) 21st-century American women politicians