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Kirk Pearson (Washington)
Kirk Pearson is a former Republican member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 39 from 2013 to 2017. On November 3, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Pearson was appointed as director of rural development for Washington state.[1]
Pearson served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing District 39-Position 2 from 2001 to 2013.
Biography
Pearson attended Wenatchee Valley College from 1977 to 1978. He then attended Central Washington University from 1981 to 1984. Pearson was a Special Assistant to United States Representative Jack Metcalf from 1995 to 2000.[2]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture, Water, Trade, and Economic Development |
| • Natural Resources & Parks, Chair |
| • Rules |
| • State Government |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Pearson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Government Operations and Security, Vice-Chair |
| • Law & Justice |
| • Natural Resources & Parks, Chair |
| • Rules |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Pearson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Human Services & Corrections, Vice chair |
| • Law & Justice |
| • Natural Resources & Parks, Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Pearson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Capital Budget |
| • Environment |
| • Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Pearson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Capital Budget |
| • Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness |
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
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Washington State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 20, 2016.
Incumbent Kirk Pearson ran unopposed in the Washington State Senate District 39 general election.[3]
| Washington State Senate, District 39 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Kirk Pearson Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||
Incumbent Kirk Pearson ran unopposed in the Washington State Senate District 39 top two primary.[4][5]
| Washington State Senate, District 39 Top Two Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Kirk Pearson Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||
2012
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2012
Pearson won election in the 2012 election for Washington State Senate, District 39. Pearson ran unopposed in the August 7 blanket primary election and defeated Scott Olson (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kirk Pearson |
57.6% | 33,449 | |
| Democratic | Scott Olson | 42.4% | 24,603 | |
| Total Votes | 58,052 | |||
2010
Kirk Pearson was re-elected to the Washington House of Representatives District 39-Position 2. He was unopposed in the August 17, 2010, primary and in the November 2, 2010, general election.
| Washington House of Representatives, District 39-Position 2 Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Kirk Pearson (R)
|
21,976 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Republican Kirk Pearson won re-election to the Washington House of Representatives, District 39-Position 2 receiving 61.87% of the vote (37,455 votes), defeating Democrat David Personius who received 38.13% of the vote (23,088 votes).
| Washington House of Representatives, District 39-Position 2 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Kirk Pearson (R)
|
37,455 | 61.87% | ||
| David Personius (D) | 23,088 | 38.13% | ||
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.[8]
|
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.[9]
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 14 to April 29.
|
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.[10] 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.[10] Pearson missed 0 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.[11]
2012
Pearson proposed a 10-year increase in state taxes and fees of $22.9 million, the 73rd 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.[12] 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 Pearson voted on the specific pieces of legislation:
| 2012 House Scorecard - Kirk Pearson | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill #6636 (Balanced budget requirement)
|
Bill #5967 (House Democrats budget)
|
Bill #6582 (Local transportation tax increases)
|
Bill #6378 (Pension reforms)
| ||||||||
| Y | N | N | Y | ||||||||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Pearson and his wife, Rachel, have five children.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Kirk + Pearson + 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 39
External links
- Kirk Pearson's personal website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012 (Senate), 2012 (House), 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1994, 1992
Footnotes
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Washington state Sen. Kirk Pearson appointed to Trump administration post with USDA," November 6, 2017
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 14, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "General Election Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 23, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 2, 2016 Primary Results," accessed August 25, 2016
- ↑ C-SPAN, "AP Election Results - Washington State Senate," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed April 12, 2014
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
- ↑ Freedom Freedom Foundation, "2012 Big Spender List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ My Freedom Foundation, "Home," accessed June 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Val Stevens (R) |
Washington State Senate District 39 2013–2017 |
Succeeded by Keith Wagoner (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Washington House of Representatives District 39-Position 2 2001-2013 |
Succeeded by Elizabeth Scott (R) |
