Rodney Tom

Rodney Tom
Washington State Senate District 48
Incumbent
In office
2007-Present
Term ends
January 12, 2015
Years in position	6
Party	Democratic
Leadership
Majority Coalition Caucus Leader, Washington State Senate
2013-present
Compensation
Base salary	$42,106/year
Per diem	$90/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	2006
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Washington State House of Representatives
2003-2005
Education
Bachelor's	University of Washington, 1985
Master's	University of Southern California, 1988
Personal
Place of birth	Eastgate, WA
Profession	Realtor
Websites
Office website

Rodney Tom is the Democratic Majority Coalition Caucus Leader of the Washington State Senate, representing District 48 since 2007.

Tom served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 2003 to 2005. In March of 2006 he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic. Following the 2012 election, Tom and fellow Democrat Tim Sheldon joined with Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus, which led to Tom becoming State Senate Majority Leader starting in 2013.

Tom is a realtor for Windermere Real Estate. He earned his BA from the University of Washington in 1985. He went on to receive his MBA from the University of Southern California in 1988.

Majority Coalition Caucus

In December 2012, Tom, fellow Democrat Tim Sheldon, and 23 Republicans signed a pledge to form a majority caucus called the Majority Coalition Caucus, wresting control of the Senate from the Democratic caucus which had maintained an advantage following the 2012 election. Under this arrangement, Tom became Majority Leader, with Sheldon becoming President Pro Tempore, and Republicans filling the remaining leadership positions. Though hailed by caucus members as a bellwether of cooperation, Democrats disagreed with claims of bipartisanship.

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, three committees are chaired by Democrats, 11 by Republicans, and one is co-chaired.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Tom served on the following committees:

Washington Committee Assignments, 2013
• Higher Education
• Rules
• Ways & Means

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Tom served on the following committees:

Washington Committee Assignments, 2011
• Early Learning & K-12 Education
• Higher Education & Workforce Development, Chair
• Ways and Means

Elections

2010

See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2010

Rodney Tom was re-elected to the Washington State Senate District 48 seat in 2010. He ran unopposed in the August 17 primary. He was defeated by Republican Gregg Bennett in the November 2, 2010 general election.

Washington State Senate, District 48 Primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Rodney Tom (D)		13,688	52.67 %
Gregg Bennett (R)		12,302	47.33%

2006

In November 2006, Tom was elected for the 48th District of the Washington State Senate receiving 21,868 votes.

Kauffman raised $365,723 for his campaign.

Washington State Senate, District 48 (2006)
Candidates		Votes
Rodney Tom (D)		21,868
Luke Esser (R)		19,112

Campaign donors

2010

In 2010, Tom received $250,285 in campaign donations. The top contributors to the campaign are listed below.

Washington State Senate 2010 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Rodney Tom's campaign in 2010
Senate Democratic Campaign Cmte	$44,887
Washington State Democratic Central Cmte - Non Exempt	$10,045
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Society	$2,100
East King County Lawyers For Justice	$2,100
Wissner-Slivka, Lisa	$1,800
Total Raised in 2010	$250,285

2006

In 2006, Tom collected $365,723 in donations.

Listed below are the top four contributors to his campaign.

Donor	Amount
Senate Democratic Campaign CMTE	$44,975
Washington State Democratic Party	$41,901
Rodney Tom	$30,300
48th District Democrats	$23,000

Personal

Tom and his wife Deborah have two daughters.

Scorecards

Freedom Foundation

See also: Freedom Foundation's Big Spender List

The Freedom Foundation releases its Big Spender List annually. The Institute ranks all Washington legislators based on their total proposed tax and fee increases. To find each legislator’s total, the Institute adds up the 10-year tax increases or decreases, as estimated by Washington’s Office of Financial Management, of all bills sponsored or co-sponsored by that legislator.

2012

Tom proposed a 10-year increase in state taxes and fees of $441.7 million, the 13th highest amount of proposed new taxes and fees of the 46 Washington state senators on the Freedom Foundation’s 2012 Big Spender List.

Recent news

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This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Rodney + Tom + Washington + Senate"

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

Rodney Tom News Feed

• Washington Senators Let Women Down In Their State - Campus Progress
• Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster ... - Huffington Post
• Senate majority has long list for special session - Yakima Herald-Republic
• Special legislative session opens: A budget deal? Hardly - Q13 FOX
• DCCC Fundraising: $5.4 Million In April - Huffington Post
• Potential tuition increase of up to 10 percent in next two years, even more ... - The Easterner
• Governor signs three bills supported by Washington Attorney General Bob ... - Access Washington
• Senate majority names 33 bills for state budget talks - TheNewsTribune.com
• Cancer survivor exudes calm in Legislature's budget battles - The Seattle Times
• Tom Kacich: Illinois' openness still merits bad grade - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

External links

Suggest a link

• Rodney Tom on the Washington State Senate website
• Tom state-sponsored website
• Legislative profile of Tom on Project Vote Smart
• Biographical profile of Tom on Project Vote Smart
• Biography of Rodney Tom provided by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee
• Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002
• Campaign website
• Tom on Facebook
• Washington Votes profile for Tom

References

Political offices
Preceded by '	Washington Senate District 48 2007-present	Succeeded by NA