Slew of retirements in Olympia could shake up November elections
More than a dozen retiring state legislators, including top leadership from both parties, are likely to add to an already high-stakes elections this November, when Democrats will attempt to maintain and expand their narrow majority.
Twice as many Republicans have announced their retirements as Democrats, including House Minority Leader Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, who has served as the top Republican in that chamber since 2013.
“My family wants me home. And I want to go home,” Kristiansen said in a statement released earlier in March. “My family came to visit me this week in Olympia and it really put things in perspective for me. We’ve been on this journey together and I’m so grateful for them.”
Republicans promptly chose Rep. J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, to replace Kristiansen as House Minority Leader. Wilcox had been the House Floor Leader previously, another leadership position.
Kristiansen isn’t the only leadership citing family as their motive to get out of politics, as Senate Majority Leader Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, has also announced that she is retiring to spend more time with loved ones.
“It is time for me to return next year to being a wife, mother, grandmother and daughter (yes, my mother is 89 and still a big part of our family,” Nelson wrote in announcing to her colleagues that she planned on retiring. “Simply said, I am not running for re-election to the Senate and looking forward to time with my family while all of you are in session next year.”
No successor for Nelson has been chosen as of yet, a decision that is not expected until November.
Besides Nelson, Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, will also not seek reelection to the state Senate.
The state House has lost more than ten members to retirement. Democrats will lose Reps. Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle, Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, Kristine Lytton, D-Anacortes, and Joan McBride, D-Kirkland. McBride is the most recent to announce her departure, only making the decision public Wednesday.
Besides Kristiansen, Republicans will be losing at least seven other legislators in the House. This includes Reps. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, Larry Haler, R-Richland, Terry Nealey, R-Dayton, Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, and Jeff Holy, R-Cheney. Holy stepped down in order to run for the Senate seat left vacant by Baumgartner.
Democrats are reportedly targeting the seats vacated by Puyallup Republican representatives Stambaugh and McDonald. Though Stambaugh and McDonald’s district tilts heavily Republican, it elected Democrat Dawn Morrell five times between 2002 and 2012.
Democrats have also set their sights on the 5th District seat opened up by Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, who narrowly won reelection in 2016 after coming under fire for calling Muslims “barbarians” and suggesting Americans arm themselves against the threat posed by Islam.
Even among those empty seats unlikely to tip to the other side of the political aisle, openings left by incumbents will mean new blood in both parties and the potential for lively primary elections.
Each party is also eying seats occupied the other’s incumbents. With only a two-seat majority in the House and a one-seat majority in the Senate, any upset in the November elections could dramatically shift the political makeup in Olympia. Losing seats could lose the Democrats their majority, and gaining seats could allow Democrats to revive legislation like gun control and a carbon tax that died during the 2018 session.