Karen Fraser
Karen Fraser is a former Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 22 from 1993 to 2017. She was the State Senate Minority Caucus Leader at the end of her time in office.
Fraser did not seek re-election to the Washington State Senate in 2016. Instead, she filed to run as a 2016 candidate for lieutenant governor of Washington but was defeated in the August 2 primary election.[1]
She previously served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1989 to 1992.
Biography
Fraser earned her B.A. in sociology from the University of Washington in 1966. She went on to receive her master's degree in public administration from the University of Washington in 1969.
Fraser has worked as a professor of public administration at the Evergreen State College since 1999.[2]
Fraser served on the Lacey City Council from 1973 to 1980, as mayor of the City of Lacey from 1976 to 1980, and as a commissioner for Thurston County from 1981-1988.[3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Fraser served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Senate Accountability & Reform |
| • Rules |
| • Ways & Means |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Fraser served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Governmental Operations |
| • Rules |
| • Ways & Means |
| • Joint Administrative Rules Review, Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Fraser served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Joint Administrative Rules Review |
| • Environment, Water & Energy |
| • Natural Resources & Marine Waters |
| • Rules |
| • Ways and Means |
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
2016
Fraser filed to run as a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of Washington.[1] Four Democrats, including three state senators, four Republicans, two minor-party candidates, and one independent competed for the top two slots in the primary election. Fraser was defeated in the primary election by state Rep. Cyrus Habib (D) and radio host Marty McClendon (R).
The following candidates ran in the Washington primary for lieutenant governor.
| Washington primary for lieutenant governor, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Cyrus Habib |
22.26% | 294,641 | |
| Republican | Marty McClendon |
19.17% | 253,714 | |
| Democratic | Karen Fraser | 15.66% | 207,271 | |
| Democratic | Steve Hobbs | 15.29% | 202,427 | |
| Republican | Phillip Yin | 10.70% | 141,680 | |
| Democratic | Karen Wallace | 4.47% | 59,175 | |
| Republican | Javier Figueroa | 4.25% | 56,214 | |
| Republican | Bill Penor | 4.00% | 52,986 | |
| Libertarian | Paul Addis | 1.99% | 26,304 | |
| Independent | Daniel Davies | 1.25% | 16,491 | |
| Citizens Party | Mark Greene | 0.96% | 12,692 | |
| Total Votes | 1,323,595 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign finance
| Karen Fraser Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| To date | August 1, 2016 | $0 | $256,293.45 | $(237,313.46) | $ | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $256,293.45 | $(237,313.46) | ||||||||
Primary endorsements
| Primary election key endorsements, Democratic candidates (1 of 2)[4][5] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karen Fraser | Cyrus Habib | ||||||||
| Washington Federation of State Employees, AFL-CIO | Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) | ||||||||
| Washington State Nurses Association | American Federation of Teachers- Washington | ||||||||
| Retired Firefighters of Washington | Washington Conservation Voters | ||||||||
| State Treasurer Jim McIntire (D) | Washington Education Association | ||||||||
| State House Speaker Pro Tempore James Moeller (D) | Washington State Council of County & City Employees (AFSCME) | ||||||||
| The Tacoma News Tribune | State House Deputy Majority Floor Leader Steve Bergquist (D) | ||||||||
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77 | Former U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks (D) | ||||||||
| Emily's List | |||||||||
| What is a key endorsement? | |||||||||
| Primary election key endorsements, Democratic candidates (2 of 2)[6] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Hobbs | Bill Penor | Karen Wallace | |||||||
| Former Governor of Washington Gary Locke (D) | |||||||||
| State Senate Minority Caucus Vice Chair Mark Mullet (D) | |||||||||
| State House Deputy Majority Leader Larry Springer (D) | |||||||||
| Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council | |||||||||
| Washington Realtors | |||||||||
| WA State Patrol Troopers Association | |||||||||
| Association of Washington Businesses | |||||||||
| What is a key endorsement? | |||||||||
2012
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2012
Fraser ran in the 2012 election for Washington State Senate District 22. Fraser ran unopposed in the blanket primary on August 7, 2012. She won in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7]
2008
On November 4, 2008, Fraser was re-elected for the 22nd District of the Washington State Senate receiving 45,062 votes.
Fraser raised $70,110 for her campaign.[8]
| Washington State Senate, District 22 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Karen Fraser (D)
|
45,062 | |||
| Erik Lee (D) | 16,266 | |||
Campaign themes
2016
Fraser's campaign website included the following priorities:[9]
| “ |
|
” |
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.
2017
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.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the state’s business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to home building industry issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on firearm policies.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against WSLC's position.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
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.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
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.[11]
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 13 to March 14.[12]
|
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.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 9 to March 8.[13]
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 10 through April 24.
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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.[14] 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.[14] Fraser missed 5 votes in a total of 1017 roll calls.
Freedom Foundation
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.[15]
2012
Fraser proposed a 10-year increase in state taxes and fees of $6.9 million, the 36th highest amount of proposed new taxes and fees of the 46 Washington state senators 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.[16] 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 Fraser voted on the specific pieces of legislation:
| 2012 Senate Scorecard - Karen Fraser | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill #6636 (Balanced budget requirement)
|
Bill #5967 (Senate Republicans budget)
|
Bill #6582 (Local transportation tax increases)
|
Bill #6378 (Pension reforms)
| ||||||||
| N | N | Y | N | ||||||||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Fraser is married to Tim Malone and has one daughter.
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Karen + Fraser + Washington + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Washington State Legislature
- Washington State Senate
- Washington State Senate Committees
- Washington Joint Committees
- Washington State Senate District 22
- Lieutenant Governor of Washington
External links
- Karen Fraser on the Washington State Senate website
- Senate Democrats website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile of Fraser on Project Vote Smart
- Biographical profile of Fraser on Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1994, 1992, 1990
- Washington Votes profile of Fraser
- Washington Lieutenant Governor
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Q13 Fox, "Sen. Karen Fraser announces run for lieutenant governor," October 6, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 14, 2014
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Legislative District Map," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Elect Karen Fraser, "Endorsements," accessed July 10, 2016
- ↑ Cyrus Habib, "Endorsements," accessed July 10, 2016
- ↑ Steve Hobbs for Lieutenant Governor, "Endorsements," accessed July 10, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed July 16, 2012
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Elect Karen Fraser, "Karen Fraser for Lt Governor - Priorities," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Legislative District Map," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ My Freedom Foundation, "Home," accessed June 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Washington State Senate District 22 1993-2017 |
Succeeded by Sam Hunt (D) |
 |
State of Washington Olympia (capital) |
|---|---|
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