Jamie Pedersen
2013 - Present
2027
12
Jamie Pedersen (Democratic Party) is a member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 43. He assumed office in 2013. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Pedersen was born in Puyallup, Washington, and graduated from Puyallup High School.[1][2] He earned a bachelor's degree in Soviet and East European studies and American studies from Yale College in 1990, spent a year in Russia gathering oral histories of veterans of the Soviet-Afghan war, and then attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1994. After law school, Pedersen clerked for Judge Stephen Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.[2][3]
Pedersen was a lawyer at K&L Gates from 1995 to 2012. He joined McKinstry in 2012, where he was executive vice president and general counsel as of 2025.[3]
In 2006, Pedersen was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives, representing District 43 from 2007 to 2013.[3] According to The Seattle Times, Pedersen was known before his election to the House "for high-profile legal fights over gay rights, having served as a lawyer on three major state Supreme Court cases for Lambda Legal, the national advocacy group."[4]
The King County Council appointed Pedersen to a vacant seat in the Washington State Senate in 2013.[5][6] In a 2018 voter guide, Pedersen's campaign stated, "As House Judiciary Committee Chair, he led efforts to pass marriage equality, ensure parentage rights for all families, and create social purpose corporations so businesses can put workers and environmental protection before profits. ... As Senate Law & Justice Committee Chair, he has championed gun safety, police accountability, abolishing the death penalty, and reforming the criminal justice system."[7]
Pedersen served as majority floor leader from 2022 to 2024 and was elected Senate majority leader in November 2024.[2][3][8] After he was elected majority leader, Pedersen said, "I’m eager to build on the bipartisan progress we have made since Democrats took back control of the Senate in 2018. ... We are excited to see our majority grow. I am confident this new energy and passion will help Senate Democrats continue to put people first and tackle the issues Washingtonians care about most – affordable housing, great public schools, behavioral health, gun violence prevention, climate change, and more."[8]
Biography
Pedersen was born in Puyallup, Washington, and graduated from Puyallup High School.[9][2] Pedersen received a bachelor's degree in Soviet and East European studies and American studies from Yale College in 1990 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994. He then clerked for Judge Stephen Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Pedersen was a lawyer at K&L Gates from 1995 to 2012, when he joined McKinstry as executive vice president and general counsel.[2][3][10]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Pedersen was assigned to the following committees:
- Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee
- Law & Justice Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Ways & Means Committee
- Joint Employment Relations Committee
2021-2022
Pedersen was assigned to the following committees:
- Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee
- Law & Justice Committee, Chair
- Ways & Means Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
2019-2020
Pedersen was assigned to the following committees:
- Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee
- Law & Justice Committee, Chair
- Senate Rules Committee
- Ways & Means Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Law & Justice |
| • Ways & Means |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Pedersen served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions & Insurance |
| • Law & Justice, Ranking member |
| • Transportation |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Pedersen served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Higher Education |
| • Judiciary, Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Pedersen served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Business and Financial Services |
| • General Government Appropriations and Oversight |
| • Judiciary, Chair |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Pedersen served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • General Government Appropriations |
| • Health Care and Wellness |
| • Judiciary, Chair |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on August 4, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Washington State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jamie Pedersen is running in the primary for Washington State Senate District 43 on August 4, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jamie Pedersen (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Washington State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jamie Pedersen won election in the general election for Washington State Senate District 43 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Pedersen (D) | 98.5 | 50,957 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.5 | 751 | ||
| Total votes: 51,708 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Washington State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jamie Pedersen advanced from the primary for Washington State Senate District 43 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Pedersen (D) | 97.9 | 30,299 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 640 | ||
| Total votes: 30,939 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Washington State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jamie Pedersen defeated Dan Harder in the general election for Washington State Senate District 43 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Pedersen (D) | 90.5 | 75,660 |
| Dan Harder (R) | 9.5 | 7,965 | ||
| Total votes: 83,625 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Washington State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jamie Pedersen and Dan Harder advanced from the primary for Washington State Senate District 43 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Pedersen (D) | 90.6 | 42,426 |
| ✔ | Dan Harder (R) | 9.4 | 4,401 | |
| Total votes: 46,827 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for 25 districts in the Washington State Senate took place in 2014. A blanket primary election took place on August 5, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 17, 2014. Incumbent Jamie Pedersen (D) was unopposed in the primary. Pedersen was unopposed in the general election.[11][12][13]
2012
Pedersen ran in the 2012 election for Washington House of Representatives District 43-Position 1. Pedersen ran against Kshama Sawant in the blanket primary on August 7, 2012. Sawant moved to running for position 2, leaving Pedersen unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[14][15]
2010
Jamie Pedersen was re-elected to the Washington House of Representatives District 43-Position 1. He ran unopposed in the August 17, 2010, primary and was unopposed in the November 2, 2010, general election.
| Washington House of Representatives, District 43-Position 1 Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Jamie Pedersen (D)
|
21,257 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Democrat Jamie Pedersen won re-election to the Washington House of Representatives, District 43-Position 1 receiving 100.00% of the vote (55,491 votes). He ran unopposed.
| Washington House of Representatives, District 43-Position 1 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Jamie Pedersen (D)
|
55,491 | 100.00% | ||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2022
Jamie Pedersen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Washington scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 7.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 9 to April 23.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 10.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 25.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 13 to March 12.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 28.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 8 through March 8.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 9 through April 23. There were also special sessions. The first special session was April 24 through May 23. The second special session was May 23 through June 21. The third special session was June 21 through July 20.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 64th Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 11 through March 10. The legislature held a special session from March 11 to March 29 to pass a supplemental budget.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 64th Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 12 through April 24. The legislature was in special session from April 29 to May 28, May 29 to June 27 and June 28 to July 10.[16]
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 13 to March 14.[17]
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 14 to April 29.
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Missed Votes Report
- See also: Washington House of Representatives and Washington State Senate
In March 2014, Washington Votes, a legislative information website, released its annual Missed Votes Report, which provides detailed missed roll call votes on bills for every state legislator during the 2014 legislative session.[18] The 2014 regular session included a total of 515 votes in the State House and 396 in the State Senate, as well as 1,372 bills introduced total in the legislature and 237 bills passed. Out of all roll call votes, 90 individual legislators did not miss any votes. Three individual legislators missed more than 50 votes.[18] Pedersen missed 6 votes in a total of 1092 roll calls.
Freedom Foundation
The Freedom Foundation releases its Big Spender List annually. The Institute ranks all Washington legislators based on their total proposed taxes and fees. To find each legislator’s total, the Institute adds up the 10-year tax and fee increases or decreases, as estimated by Washington’s Office of Financial Management, of all bills sponsored or co-sponsored by that legislator.[19]
2012
Pedersen proposed a 10-year increase in state taxes and fees of $6.57 billion, the 11th highest amount of proposed new taxes and fees of the 93 Washington state representatives on the Freedom Foundation’s 2012 Big Spender List.
- See also: Washington Freedom Foundation Legislative Scorecard (2012)
The Freedom Foundation also issued its 2012 Informed Voter Guide for Washington State voters, including a legislative score card documenting how Washington State legislators voted upon bills the Foundation deemed important legislation. The legislation analyzed covered budget, taxation, and pension issues.[20] A 
sign indicates a bill more in line with the Foundation's stated goals, and a 
sign indicates a bill out of step with the Foundation's values. Here's how Pedersen voted on the specific pieces of legislation:
| 2012 House Scorecard - Jamie Pedersen | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill #6636 (Balanced budget requirement)
|
Bill #5967 (House Democrats budget)
|
Bill #6582 (Local transportation tax increases)
|
Bill #6378 (Pension reforms)
| ||||||||
| N | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Washington State Senate District 43 |
Officeholder Washington State Senate District 43 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "State of Washington Voters' Pamphlet," accessed March 24, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Washington Senate Democrats, "Senator Jamie Pedersen," accessed March 24, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 LinkedIn, "Jamie Pedersen," accessed March 24, 2025
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "District 43's Democratic hopefuls are 6 of a kind," September 14, 2006
- ↑ KUOW, "Democrats Choose Rep. Jaime Pedersen To Replace Sen. Ed Murray," December 3, 2013
- ↑ Washington Senate Democrats, "Pedersen sworn in as senator for the 43rd Legislative District," December 20, 2013
- ↑ VoteWA, "2018 Primary Voters' Guide," accessed March 24, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Washington Senate Democrats, "Pedersen elected Senate Majority Leader," November 11, 2024
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "State of Washington Voters' Pamphlet," accessed March 24, 2025
- ↑ Seattle Business Magazine, "Jamie Pedersen," May 15, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2014 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 20, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 5, 2014, Official Primary Results," accessed August 5, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Official general election results, 2014," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ C-SPAN, "AP Election Results - Washington State House of Representatives," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed July 16, 2012
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
- ↑ Freedom Foundation, "2012 Big Spender List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ My Freedom Foundation, "Home," accessed June 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Washington State Senate District 43 2013-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Washington House of Representatives District 43-Position 1 2007-2013 |
Succeeded by - |
