The Washington State Senate is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

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 A legislative building is a building in which a legislature sits and makes laws for its respective Polity, political entity. The term used for the building varies between the political entities, such as "building", "capitol", "hall", "house", or ...

in Olympia. As with the

lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, 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

s of

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and territorial legislatures and the federal

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, 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 political ...

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 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 ...

is constitutionally the President of the Senate. The current President Pro Tempore is

Karen Keiser Karen Lynne Keiser (born September 29, 1947) is an American journalist and politician of the Democratic Party. She represents the 33rd Legislative District in the Washington State Senate, which contains parts of Burien, Normandy Park, SeaTac, ...

. The Majority leader is Democrat

Andy Billig Andrew Swire Billig (born May 1, 1968) is an American politician of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and co-owner of the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team. On November 6, 2012, Billig was elected to the Washington St ...

. The Minority Leader is Republican

John Braun John Eric Braun (born January 16, 1967) is an American politician from Washington. A Republican, Braun serves in the Washington State Senate, representing the 20th district. Braun serves as the President of Braun Northwest and as an officer in t ...

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

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