Washington State Senate

Washington State Senate
Washington State Senate
Washington State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 9, 2017
Leadership
Lieutenant Governor	Cyrus Habib (D) ; since January 11, 2017
President of the Senate pro tempore	Tim Sheldon (Majority Coalition Caucus) ; since January 9, 2017
Majority Leader	Mark Schoesler (Majority Coalition Caucus) ; since December 1, 2014
Minority Leader	Sharon Nelson (D) ; since November 20, 2013
Structure
Seats	49
Political groups	Majority coalition (MCC) Republican (24) ; Ind. Democrat (1); Minority Democratic (24) ;
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article II, Washington State Constitution
Salary	$42,106/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016; (25 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018; (24 seats)
Redistricting	Washington State Redistricting Commission
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Washington State Capitol; Olympia, Washington
Website
	Washington State Senate

The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 140,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia.

As with the lower House of Representatives, state senators serve without term limits, though senators serve four-year terms. Senators are elected from the same legislative districts as House members, with each district electing two representatives but only one senator.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the state senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

Leadership

The Lieutenant Governor of Washington serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate. The President Pro Tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the entire Senate through a Senate Resolution. The President Pro Tempore is the chief leadership position in the Senate after the Lieutenant Governor. The other Senate leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

The current President of the Senate is Cyrus Habib. The current President Pro Tempore is Tim Sheldon following the election of Pam Roach to the Pierce County Council. Roach had previously ousted Sheldon from the role with the support of the Democratic Caucus. The Majority leader is Republican Mark Schoesler, who assumed office following the retirement of Majority Coalition Caucus founder Rodney Tom in 2014, and the Minority Leader is Sharon Nelson, a Democrat who has been serving as her party's Senate leader since Seattle Mayor Ed Murray was elected to his current office.

Composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Coalition		Non-coalition

	Republican	Democratic			Vacant
End of previous legislature	25	1	23	49	0

Begin (January 9, 2017)^[1]	24	1	24	49	0
January 24, 2017^[2]	23			48	1
February 1, 2017^[3]	24			49	0
Latest voting share	51.02%		48.98%

Members (2017–2019, 65th Legislature)

District	Senator	Party	Residence	Counties Represented	First elected	Next election
1	Guy Palumbo	Democratic	Maltby	King (part), Snohomish (part)	2016	2020
2	Randi Becker	Republican	Eatonville	Pierce (part), Thurston (part)	2008	2020
3	Andy Billig	Democratic	Spokane	Spokane (part)	2012	2020
4	Mike Padden	Republican	Spokane Valley	Spokane (part)	2011^	2020
5	Mark Mullet	Democratic	Issaquah	King (part)	2012#	2020
6	Michael Baumgartner	Republican	Spokane	Spokane (part)	2010	2018
7	Shelly Short	Republican	Addy	Ferry, Okanogan (part), Pend Oreille, Spokane (part), Stevens	2017†	2017
8	Sharon Brown	Republican	Kennewick	Benton (part)	2013†	2018
9	Mark Schoesler	Republican	Ritzville	Adams, Asotin, Franklin (part), Garfield, Spokane (part), Whitman	2004	2020
10	Barbara Bailey	Republican	Oak Harbor	Island, Skagit (part), Snohomish (part)	2012	2020
11	Bob Hasegawa	Democratic	Seattle	King (part)	2012	2020
12	Brad Hawkins	Republican	East Wenatchee	Chelan, Douglas, Grant (part), Okanogan (part)	2016	2020
13	Judy Warnick	Republican	Moses Lake	Grant (part), Kittitas, Lincoln, Yakima (part)	2014	2018
14	Curtis King	Republican	Yakima	Clark (part), Klickitat, Skamania, Yakima (part)	2007^	2020
15	Jim Honeyford	Republican	Sunnyside	Yakima (part)	1998	2018
16	Maureen Walsh	Republican	College Place	Walla Walla	2016	2020
17	Lynda Wilson	Republican	Vancouver	Clark (part)	2016	2020
18	Ann Rivers	Republican	La Center	Clark (part)	2012†	2020
19	Dean Takko	Democratic	Longview	Cowlitz (part), Grays Harbor (part), Lewis (part), Pacific, Wahkiakum	2015†	2020
20	John Braun	Republican	Centralia	Clark (part), Cowlitz (part), Lewis (part), Thurston (part)	2012	2020
21	Marko Liias	Democratic	Everett	Snohomish (part)	2014†	2018
22	Sam Hunt	Democratic	Olympia	Thurston (part)	2016	2020
23	Christine Rolfes	Democratic	Bainbridge Island	Kitsap (part)	2010†	2020
24	Kevin Van De Wege	Democratic	Sequim	Clallam, Grays Harbor (part), Jefferson	2016	2020
25	Hans Zeiger	Republican	Puyallup	Pierce (part)	2016#	2020
26	Jan Angel	Republican	Port Orchard	Kitsap (part), Pierce (part)	2013^	2018
27	Jeannie Darneille	Democratic	Tacoma	Pierce (part)	2012	2020
28	Steve O'Ban	Republican	Tacoma	Pierce (part)	2013†	2020
29	Steve Conway	Democratic	Tacoma	Pierce (part)	2010	2018
30	Mark Miloscia	Republican	Federal Way	King (part), Pierce (part)	2014	2018
31	Phil Fortunato	Republican	Auburn	King (part), Pierce (part)	2017†	2017
32	Maralyn Chase	Democratic	Edmonds	King (part), Snohomish (part)	2010	2018
33	Karen Keiser	Democratic	Des Moines	King (part)	2001†	2018
34	Sharon Nelson	Democratic	Vashon	King (part)	2010#	2018
35	Tim Sheldon	Democratic (MCC)	Potlatch	Kitsap (part), Mason, Thurston (part)	1997^	2018
36	Reuven Carlyle	Democratic	Seattle	King (part)	2016†	2020
37	Rebecca Saldaña	Democratic	Seattle	King (part)	2016†	2017
38	John McCoy	Democratic	Tulalip	Snohomish (part)	2013†	2018
39	Kirk Pearson	Republican	Monroe	King (part), Skagit (part), Snohomish (part)	2012	2020
40	Kevin Ranker	Democratic	Orcas Island	San Juan, Skagit (part), Whatcom (part)	2008	2020
41	Lisa Wellman	Democratic	Mercer Island	King (part)	2016	2020
42	Doug Ericksen	Republican	Ferndale	Whatcom (part)	2010	2018
43	Jamie Pedersen	Democratic	Seattle	King (part)	2013†	2018
44	Steve Hobbs	Democratic	Lake Stevens	Snohomish (part)	2006	2018
45	Dino Rossi	Republican	Sammamish	King (part)	2016†	2017
46	David Frockt	Democratic	Seattle	King (part)	2011†	2018
47	Joe Fain	Republican	Auburn	King (part)	2010	2018
48	Patty Kuderer	Democratic	Clyde Hill	King (part)	2017†	2017
49	Annette Cleveland	Democratic	Vancouver	Clark (part)	2012	2020

†Originally Appointed

^Originally Elected in Special Election

#Sworn in early to fill vacant seat

References

^ Republican Andy Hill died October 31, 2016, after the 2016 legislative session ended. Republican Dino Rossi was appointed to replace Hill on December 5. Democrat Pramila Jayapal (District 37) resigned December 12, 2016 after her successful election to Congress. Democrat Rebecca Saldaña was appointed to replace Jayapal on December 12. Democrat Cyrus Habib resigned January 4, 2017 after his successful election as Lieutenant Governor of Washington. Democrat Patty Kuderer was appointed to replace Habib on January 9.
^ Republican Brian Dansel (District 7) resigned to take a job in the United States Department of Agriculture. [1]
^ Republican Shelly Short appointed to replace Dansel. [2]

External links

47°02′09″N 122°54′16″W / 47.0358°N 122.9045°W / 47.0358; -122.9045

[1] Republican Andy Hill died October 31, 2016, after the 2016 legislative session ended. Republican Dino Rossi was appointed to replace Hill on December 5. Democrat Pramila Jayapal (District 37) resigned December 12, 2016 after her successful election to Congress. Democrat Rebecca Saldaña was appointed to replace Jayapal on December 12. Democrat Cyrus Habib resigned January 4, 2017 after his successful election as Lieutenant Governor of Washington. Democrat Patty Kuderer was appointed to replace Habib on January 9.

[2] Republican Brian Dansel (District 7) resigned to take a job in the United States Department of Agriculture. [1]

[3] Republican Shelly Short appointed to replace Dansel. [2]

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Members of the Washington State Senate
68th State Legislature (2023–2025) President of the Senate Denny Heck (D) President pro tempore Vacant Majority Leader Andy Billig (D) Minority Leader John Braun (R)
▌Derek Stanford (D) ▌Jim McCune (R) ▌Andy Billig (D) ▌Mike Padden (R) ▌Mark Mullet (D) ▌Jeff Holy (R) ▌Shelly Short (R) ▌Matt Boehnke (R) ▌Mark Schoesler (R) ▌Ron Muzzall (R) ▌Bob Hasegawa (D) ▌Brad Hawkins (R) ▌Judy Warnick (R) ▌Curtis King (R) ▌Nikki Torres (R) ▌Perry Dozier (R) ▌Lynda Wilson (R) ▌Ann Rivers (R) ▌Jeff Wilson (R) ▌John Braun (R) ▌Marko Liias (D) ▌Sam Hunt (D) ▌Drew Hansen (D) ▌Mike Chapman (D) ▌Chris Gildon (R) ▌Deb Krishnadasan (D) ▌Yasmin Trudeau (D) ▌T'wina Nobles (D) ▌Steve Conway (D) ▌Claire Wilson (D) ▌Phil Fortunato (R) ▌Jesse Salomon (D) ▌Tina Orwall (D) ▌Joe Nguyen (D) ▌Drew MacEwen (R) ▌Noel Frame (D) ▌Rebecca Saldaña (D) ▌June Robinson (D) ▌Keith Wagoner (R) ▌Liz Lovelett (D) ▌Lisa Wellman (D) ▌Sharon Shewmake (D) ▌Jamie Pedersen (D) ▌John Lovick (D) ▌Manka Dhingra (D) ▌Javier Valdez (D) ▌Claudia Kauffman (D) ▌Patty Kuderer (D) ▌Annette Cleveland (D)
Majority caucus ▌Democratic (29) Minority caucus ▌Republican (20) Washington State Legislature Washington House of Representatives Washington State Senate

v t e Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
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Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	United States Israel

Leadership

Composition

Members (2017–2019, 65th Legislature)

See also

References

External links