The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The incumbent is

Denny Heck Dennis Lynn Heck (born July 29, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and politician serving as the 17th lieutenant governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 10th con ...

, a Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the

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 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olymp ...

, fills in as

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

whenever the governor leaves the state or is unable to serve, and assumes the duties of governor in case of a vacancy. There have been 17 holders of the office, three of whom have ascended to the office of

governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either a ...

. Prior to statehood, there were 10 territorial secretaries of state of Washington that acted in the territorial governor's absence, but were unable to ascend to governor.Lieutenant governors of the state of Washington to the beginning of Washington's statehood, November 11, 1889
.

List of lieutenant governors of Washington

;Parties

Living former lieutenant governors

, there are two former lieutenant governors from Washington. The most recent and most recently serving lieutenant governor was

Joel Pritchard Joel McFee Pritchard (May 5, 1925 – October 9, 1997) was an American businessman and politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Washington as a member of the Republican party. Pritchard a ...

(served 1989–1997, born 1925) on October 9, 1997.

References

{{Lists of lieutenant governors by U.S. state *