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 approximately 160,000. The state senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia.

As with the lower House of Representatives, state senators serve without term limits, and senators serve four-year terms. Senators are elected from the same legislative districts as House members, with each district electing one senator and two representatives. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.

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 state constitution allows both houses to write their own rules of procedure (article II, section 9) and to elect their own officers (article II, section 10) with the proviso that the lieutenant governor may preside in each house and has a deciding vote in the Senate, but that the Senate may choose a "temporary president" in the absence of the lieutenant governor. The prevailing two-party system has produced current senate rules to the effect that the president pro tempore is nominated by the majority party caucus and elected by the entire Senate.

Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck is constitutionally the president of the Senate. The current president pro tempore is Steve Conway. The majority leader is Democrat Jamie Pedersen. The minority leader is Republican John Braun.

Composition

Members (2025–2027, 69th Legislature)

Past composition of the Senate

See also

• Washington State Capitol
• Washington State Legislature
• Washington House of Representatives
• List of Washington state legislatures

External links

• August 31, 2009, at theWayback Machine

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