The Washington State Senate is the
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
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
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 one senator and two representatives. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.
Like other
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
s of
state and territorial legislatures and the federal
U.S. Senate, the state senate can confirm or reject
gubernatorial
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of politica ...
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
Karen Keiser. The Majority leader is Democrat
Andy Billig. The Minority Leader is Republican
John Braun.
Composition
Members (2021–2023, 67th Legislature)
: * Sheldon self-identifies as a Democrat but has caucused with the Republicans since December 10, 2012
: † Originally appointed
: ^ Originally elected in special election
: # Sworn in early to fill vacant seat
Past composition of the Senate
See also
*
Washington State Capitol
*
Washington State Legislature
*
Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
*
List of Washington state legislatures
Washington most 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 cen ...
References
External links
Washington State SenateMap of Legislative Districts
{{Coord, 47.0358, -122.9045, type:landmark_region:US-WA, display=title
Washington State Legislature
Government of Washington (state)
State upper houses in the United States