Washington Senate Democrats chose state Sen. Jamie Pedersen as their new majority leader on Monday.
Pedersen, who represents the 43rd Legislative District in Seattle, replaces retiring Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig of Spokane. Democratic senators made the much-anticipated leadership decision in a caucus meeting in Tukwila.
Pedersen has served as the majority floor leader in the Senate since 2022. In his new role, he will lead a caucus of potentially 30 senators, a one-seat increase in the party’s majority. That’s because Democrat Adrian Cortes is beating Republican Brad Benton by 232 votes in the 18th Legislative District where Republican Sen. Ann Rivers is retiring. A recount may be required to settle the outcome.
The caucus will also see three new arrivals. Reps. Marcus Riccelli, of Spokane, Jessica Bateman, of Olympia, and Mike Chapman, of Port Angeles, all won seats previously held by Democrats.
“We are excited to see our majority grow,” Pedersen said in a statement Monday. “I am confident this new energy and passion will help Senate Democrats continue to put people first and tackle the issues Washingtonians care about most – affordable housing, great public schools, behavioral health, gun violence prevention, climate change, and more.”
Pedersen has served in the Senate since 2013. He was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2006. He has chaired the House Judiciary and the Senate Law and Justice committees.
His appointment makes Washington the first in the nation to have two LGBTQ+ legislative leaders at the same time. He joins House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, who became the first woman and first lesbian to lead the chamber in 2020.
Billig, who announced in March he would not seek re-election, will depart as the third-longest serving majority leader in the past 50 years. Lisa Brown, a Democrat and a former 3rd District seatmate of Billig’s, held the post for eight years and Jeannette Hayner, a Republican, held it for a combined seven years over two stints in the 1980s and early 1990s.
In his time as majority leader, Billig teamed with Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and the Democrat-controlled House to pass landmark policies concerning education, the environment, guns, taxes, child care and policing.
Pedersen said Monday he is eager to build on the bipartisan progress the party has made since Democrats took control of the Senate in 2018.
In Billig’s tenure, the caucus moved ideologically leftward, a trend expected to continue following this month’s election. Sen. Mark Mullet of Issaquah, one of the caucus moderates, will be succeeded by a more liberal Democrat, state Rep. Bill Ramos, also of Issaquah.
Also Monday, Democrats re-elected Bob Hasegawa, D-Tukwila, as caucus chair. Hasegawa has held that post since 2018.
In the 2025 legislative session that begins Jan. 13, lawmakers will be working with a new governor and writing a new two-year state operating budget. Separately and together they will be wrestling with how to plug a potential multi-billion dollar gap between incoming revenue and the costs of maintaining programs and services approved in prior years.
