Dennis Lynn Heck (born July 29, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and politician serving as the 17th

lieutenant governor of Washington The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the U.S. state of Washington. The incumbent is Denny Heck, a Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the Washington State Senate, fi ...

. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he previously served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Washington's 10th congressional district Washington's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in western Washington. The district is centered on the state capital, Olympia, and includes portions of Thurston and Pierce counties (including parts of Tacoma). It was crea ...

from 2013 to 2021 and as a state representative from 1977 to 1985. Born and raised in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

, Heck attended

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

in Olympia. Following his service in the state house, Heck served a term as Chief Clerk of the House and then as Deputy Chief of Staff/Chief of Staff to Governor Booth Gardner. Upon Governor Gardner's retirement in 1995, Heck and a friend and colleague, Stan Marshburn, co-founded TVW, a nonprofit statewide public affairs network for Washington State patterned after CSPAN. Upon his "retirement" in 2003, Heck concentrated on helping to build a for-profit company he had founded specializing in business oriented education and training programs Heck served as the host for the TVW public affairs show '' Inside Olympia'' in the late 1990s and early 2000s.''Inside Olympia''
TVW. 2022. Accessed March 30, 2022. In 2010, Heck attempted to return to politics as the Democratic nominee for the 3rd congressional district, but was defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Jaime Herrera Beutler Jaime Lynn Herrera Beutler ( ; born November 3, 1978) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. The district is in southwestern Washington, lying across the Columbia River from Oregon's Portland met ...

. Following redistricting, Washington added a 10th congressional district in which Heck lived representing Pierce, Thurston, and Mason County, and Heck won that seat in the U.S. House in 2012, where he served there from 2013 until 2021. In 2020, he ran to become the

, a position he won and has served in since January 2021.

Early life and education

Heck was born in

, in 1952 and raised in the

Lake Shore The ''Lake Shore'' was a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and New York via Cleveland, Ohio. The ''Lake Shores route paralleled that of the New York Central's famed ''Lake Shore Limited''. Amtrak introduced the ...

area of Clark County. One day his father did not come back home so Heck's mother took him and his older brother and borrowed money to take a bus back to Vancouver to get her old job back as a telephone operator. Heck's mother divorced and later married a

Teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

truck driver who provided him and his family a better life. Vic Heck, Heck's mother's new husband, later adopted him and his brother Bob. Heck graduated from Columbia River High School in 1970 and accepted an appointment to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

at West Point, which he attended briefly before enrolling in and later graduating from

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

in Olympia in 1973. He also attended graduate school

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

from 1974 to 1975.

Early career

Heck was the co-founder with Christopher Hedrick of Intrepid Learning Solutions. He served as a board director of the company from 1999 until 2012. The company specialized in business oriented education and training programs. He helped found Digital Efficiency, which specialized in aiding businesses and medical facilities in transitioning toward an all-digital format. Heck helped found TVW, the public affairs network for Washington State. TVW provides coverage of the Washington State Legislature and sessions of the

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retir ...

. Heck is the author of ''Challenges and Opportunities: The Transformation of Washington's Schools'', published in 1987, ''Lucky Bounce'' published in 2015, a novel titled ''The Enemy You Know'' published in 2018, and ''Sausage'' an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at his time in Congress, published in 2022.

Washington House of Representatives

Starting in 1976, Heck was elected to five terms in the

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 ...

, representing the 17th legislative district in Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties. During that time he was elected House Majority Leader, the second-ranking position in the House. He also co-chaired the Education Committee and wrote the state's historic Basic Education Act. Heck served as chief of staff for Governor

Booth Gardner William Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. A member of the Democratic Party, Gardner previ ...

during his second term (1989–1993).

U.S. House of Representatives

Denny Heck, Official Portrait, 113th Congress

Elections

;2010 In early 2010, Heck announced his candidacy to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent

Brian Baird Brian Norton Baird (born March 7, 1956) is an American psychologist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011. After leaving the U.S. House of Representatives, he served as the ...

. He won the primary with 31% of the vote and faced runner-up

Jaime Herrera, who won 28% of the vote. Heck was endorsed by the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

'' on October 12, 2010. Heck lost to Herrera in the general election, 47% to 53%. ;2012 Heck indicated in the spring of 2011 that he would run for Congress again in 2012. Soon after the state's redistricting commission announced tentative maps, Heck announced that he was running for the newly created 10th district. In the general election on November 6, 2012, Heck defeated

challenger

Dick Muri Richard Walter Muri (born November 30, 1953) is an American politician. He is the appointed Mayor of the Town of Steilacoom after longtime Mayor Ron Lucas stepped down for health reasons in March 2021, before passing away just weeks later. He is ...

to become the district's first congressman. ;2014 Heck won with 54.7% of the vote over Republican Joyce McDonald. ;2016 Heck won with 58.7% of the vote over Republican Jim Postma. ;2018 Heck won with 61.5% of the vote over Republican Joseph Brumbles.

Committee assignments

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...

** Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support ** Subcommittee on Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research *

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...

** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit ** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucus memberships

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...

* U.S.-Japan Caucus

Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act

Since 2013, Heck and Representative

Ed Perlmutter Edwin George Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, his district is located in the northern and western suburbs of the Denver metropolitan are ...

have introduced legislation to improve access to banking and financial services for cannabis businesses. Initially known as the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act, it was rebranded as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in 2017. On September 25, 2019, the House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act by a 321–103 vote, marking the first time that a standalone cannabis reform bill had passed either chamber of Congress.

Electoral history

State legislature

Lieutenant governor

On December 4, 2019, Heck announced that he would not seek reelection to Congress in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. On April 3, 2020, he filed to run for lieutenant governor.

Personal life

Heck and his wife Paula Fruci have been married since 1976 and have two sons. In 2008, he wrote and performed a one-man play, ''Our Times'', to several sold-out audiences. He and his wife, Paula, who directed the play, donated all proceeds to local charities. Heck has supported numerous organizations within

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 ...

, both actively and as a contributor. He has served on the board of trustees for The Evergreen State College,the board for the

Washington State History Museum The Washington State History Museum is a history museum located in downtown Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is operated by the Washington State Historical Society under the official approval of the Washington State Legislature. The muse ...

., was a member of the Steering Committee for the Washington Learns Commission; a long-term strategy to improve the education system of Washington.

Works

* ''Challenges and Opportunities: The Transformation of Washington's Schools'', Advance Washington (1987) * ''Lucky Bounce'', Amazon (2015) * ''The Enemy You Know'', Amazon (2018) * ''Sausage'', Amazon (2022)

References

External links

Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck
official government website
Denny Heck for Lt. Governor
campaign website * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Heck, Dennis 1952 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Chiefs of staff to United States state governors Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Evergreen State College alumni Lieutenant Governors of Washington (state) Living people Members of the Washington House of Representatives People from Vancouver, Washington Politicians from Vancouver, Washington