Washington State Senate

File:Budget passing 05.jpg

The Washington State Senate passing the 2005 budget.

The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 senators, each representing a district with a population of nearly 120,000. 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 of the Senate

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. The other Senate Majority and Minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

The President of the Senate is Washington Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen. The President Pro Tempore is Democrat Rosa Franklin (D–Lakewood). The Majority Leader is Lisa Brown (D–Spokane) and the Minority Leader is Mike Hewitt (R–Walla Walla).

Make-up of the Senate

Affiliation		Members
Template:American politics/party colours/Democratic|	Democratic Party	31
Template:American politics/party colours/Republican|	Republican Party	18
Total		49

Members of the Senate (2009-2010, 61st Legislature)

District	Senator	Party	Residence	First elected
1	Rosemary McAuliffe	Democratic	Bothell	1992
2	Randi Becker	Republican	Eatonville	2008
3	Lisa Brown	Democratic	Spokane	1996
4	Bob McCaslin	Republican	Spokane Valley	1980
5	Cheryl Pflug	Republican	Maple Valley	2004
6	Chris Marr	Democratic	Spokane	2006
7	Bob Morton	Republican	Kettle Falls	1994
8	Jerome Delvin	Republican	Richland	2004*
9	Mark Schoesler	Republican	Ritzville	2004
10	Mary Margaret Haugen	Democratic	Camano Island	1992
11	Margarita Prentice	Democratic	Renton	1992
12	Linda Evans Parlette	Republican	Wenatchee	2000
13	Janea Holmquist	Republican	Moses Lake	2006
14	Curtis King	Republican	Yakima	2007*
15	Jim Honeyford	Republican	Sunnyside	1998
16	Mike Hewitt	Republican	Walla Walla	2000
17	Don Benton	Republican	Vancouver	1996
18	Joseph Zarelli	Republican	Ridgefield	1995*
19	Brian Hatfield	Democratic	Raymond	2006*
20	Dan Swecker	Republican	Rochester	1995*
21	Paull Shin	Democratic	Edmonds	1998
22	Karen Fraser	Democratic	Olympia	1992
23	Phil Rockefeller	Democratic	Bainbridge Island	2004
24	James Hargrove	Democratic	Hoquiam	1992
25	Jim Kastama	Democratic	Puyallup	2000
26	Derek Kilmer	Democratic	Gig Harbor	2006
27	Debbie Regala	Democratic	Tacoma	2000
28	Mike Carrell	Republican	Lakewood
29	Rosa Franklin	Democratic	South Tacoma
30	Tracey Eide	Democratic	Federal Way
31	Pam Roach	Republican	Auburn
32	Darlene Fairley	Democratic	Lake Forest Park
33	Karen Keiser	Democratic	Kent
34	Joe McDermott	Democratic	West Seattle
35	Tim Sheldon	Democratic	Potlatch
36	Jeanne Kohl-Welles	Democratic	Seattle
37	Adam Kline	Democratic	Seattle
38	Jean Berkey	Democratic	Everett
39	Val Stevens	Republican	Arlington
40	Kevin Ranker	Democratic	San Juan Island
41	Fred Jarrett	Democratic	Bellevue
42	Dale Brandland	Republican	Bellingham
43	Ed Murray	Democratic	Seattle
44	Steve Hobbs	Democratic	Lake Stevens
45	Eric Oemig	Democratic	Kirkland
46	Ken Jacobsen	Democratic	Seattle
47	Claudia Kauffman	Democratic	Kent
48	Rodney Tom	Democratic	Medina
49	Craig Pridemore	Democratic	Vancouver

* first elected by county commissioners following the vote of a vacancy committee

Miscellaneous fact

• Rajan Zed, prominent Hindu chaplain and Indo-American leader, recited the first Hindu opening prayer on February 22, 2008.

See also

• Washington State Capitol
• Washington State Legislature
• Washington House of Representatives

External links

• Washington State Senate
• Map of State Senate Districts
• Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Washington