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Tarra Simmons
Tarra Simmons (Democratic Party) is a member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing District 23-Position 1. She assumed office on January 11, 2021. Her current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Simmons (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Washington House of Representatives to represent District 23-Position 1. She declared candidacy for the primary scheduled on August 4, 2026.[source]
Biography
Tarra Simmons graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 1994. Simmons earned a law degree from Seattle University in 2017. Her career experience includes working as the executive director of the Civil Survival Project, a Skadden Fellow with the Public Defender Association, and a legal intern with Columbia Legal Services.[1]
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
Simmons was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Simmons was assigned to the following committees:
- Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, Vice chair
- Health Care and Wellness Committee
- Public Safety Committee
- House Rules Committee
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 House of Representatives 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 House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Incumbent Tarra Simmons is running in the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on August 4, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Tarra Simmons (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Incumbent Tarra Simmons defeated Kurt Robertson in the general election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 62.9 | 53,928 |
 | Kurt Robertson (R) | 36.9 | 31,609 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 135 | ||
| Total votes: 85,672 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Incumbent Tarra Simmons and Kurt Robertson defeated Tiffany Attrill in the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 60.7 | 29,433 |
| ✔ | | Kurt Robertson (R) | 30.9 | 14,973 |
| Tiffany Attrill (Independent Party) | 8.3 | 4,046 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 55 | ||
| Total votes: 48,507 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Simmons in this election.
2022
See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Incumbent Tarra Simmons defeated Janell Hulst in the general election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 63.8 | 45,223 |
 | Janell Hulst (R) | 36.1 | 25,588 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 56 | ||
| Total votes: 70,867 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Incumbent Tarra Simmons and Janell Hulst defeated Ace Haynes in the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 64.3 | 29,956 |
| ✔ | | Janell Hulst (R) | 30.8 | 14,338 |
| Ace Haynes (R) | 4.8 | 2,234 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 37 | ||
| Total votes: 46,565 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2020
See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Tarra Simmons defeated April Ferguson in the general election for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 61.9 | 53,154 |
 | April Ferguson (R) | 38.0 | 32,620 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 142 | ||
| Total votes: 85,916 | |||
| = 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 House of Representatives District 23-Position 1
Tarra Simmons and April Ferguson defeated Leslie Daugs, Lou Krukar, and James Beall in the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tarra Simmons (D) | 45.1 | 24,191 |
| ✔ | | April Ferguson (R) | 35.2 | 18,868 |
| Leslie Daugs (D) | 14.8 | 7,932 | ||
| Lou Krukar (D) | 3.1 | 1,653 | ||
| James Beall (D) | 1.7 | 889 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 57 | ||
| Total votes: 53,590 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Grant Romaine (R)
Endorsements
To view Simmons' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tarra Simmons has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Tarra Simmons asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Tarra Simmons, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Tarra Simmons to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing info@electtarrasimmons.com.
2024
Tarra Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Tarra Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Tarra Simmons completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Simmons' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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From economic insecurity, to housing affordability and lack of access to healthcare, education and job skills training, these are big challenges that many people from all walks of life in her community face on a daily basis.
In 2014, Tarra decided to go to law school to learn how to make a larger impact on the community. Tarra graduated with honors and received the prestigious Skadden fellowship to help people get the legal counsel they need to move on after criminal justice involvement.
Tarra was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to the Washington State Reentry Council where she was elected by her peers as co-chair. He appointed her to the Public Defense Advisory Board. She also serves on the Washington Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission.
Tarra helped pass the New Hope Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that streamlines the process for reintegration after incarceration.
In addition to being the co-founder of Civil Survival, Tarra serves on the board of the Economic Opportunity Institute and volunteers with the Central Kitsap School District to support policies that end the school to prison pipeline. She recently received Sen. Murray's Golden Tennis Shoe Award and the "Woman of Achievement" award from YWCA Kitsap County.- Our region's economic growth should benefit all of us - not just wealthy CEOs and corporations. Tarra will fight for an economy that works for everyone.
- For Tarra, education was her pathway out of poverty. As a graduate of both Central Kitsap High School and Olympic College and public school parent, Tarra is committed to ensuring all students in our community can access quality education they need to succeed.
- A former nurse, Tarra has witnessed firsthand our broken healthcare system. As one of the leading causes of bankruptcy, Tarra knows we have a responsibility to reduce costs and increase access to quality healthcare, so no one has to worry about getting the care they need.
The Economy.
-Stand with Washington workers and work to create better paying jobs with benefits
-End homelessness and increase affordable housing
-Fund affordable childcare for workers
-Tax reform that ensures the super-rich pay their fair share for the services we all depend on
Education.
-Funding for early childhood education and wrap around services for children with additional needs
-Affordable higher education
-Increased access to job training and apprenticeship programs
Healthcare
-Increased funding for behavioral healthcare, including mental health treatment and substance use disorder
-Lower the cost of prescription drugs
-Protect women's reproductive healthcare
-Affordable, comprehensive healthcare for all
Climate Change
-Reduce carbon pollution and hold fossil fuel industries accountable for protecting our clean air and water
-Increase incentives for producing cleaner fuels and energy efficient construction
-Invest in communities most impacted by climate change
Civil Rights
-Protect voting rights to ensure everyone has a voice in our democracy
-Stand up for our immigrant neighbors, family and friends
-Fight back against systemic racism and ensure people of color have a voice in the decisions that impact their communities
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
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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See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 |
Officeholder Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Sherry Appleton (D) |
Washington House of Representatives District 23-Position 1 2021-Present |
Succeeded by - |
