Sharon Nelson chosen to succeed Ed Murray as new Senate Democratic Leader

Sen­a­tor Sharon Nel­son (D‑34th Dis­trict, Mau­ry Island) has been select­ed by her col­leagues to serve as the new leader of the Wash­ing­ton State Sen­ate Democ­rats, the cau­cus announced today. She suc­ceeds Ed Mur­ray, who, as of next Tues­day, will offi­cial­ly be the May­or-elect of the City of Seattle.

Nel­son, six­ty-two, rep­re­sents West Seat­tle, Burien, Vashon Island, and Mau­ry Island in the Sen­ate. She pre­vi­ous­ly served as chief of staff to Dow Con­stan­tine, when he was a coun­ty coun­cilmem­ber. She lat­er ran for state House when Joe McDer­mott moved over to the Sen­ate, and then took McDer­mot­t’s seat in the Sen­ate when Joe took Dow’s seat fol­low­ing his elec­tion as coun­ty executive.

Nel­son is known for her pro­gres­sive work eth­ic. She is kind and treats peo­ple with dig­ni­ty. She is also smart and capa­ble. She’s clear­ly earned the respect of her col­leagues. Four years ago, when she was in the House, she was hon­ored by House Demo­c­ra­t­ic leg­isla­tive aides as Leg­is­la­tor of the Year. That award speaks to her bridge-build­ing skills and her abil­i­ty to draft and improve legislation.

“I am hon­ored to have been elect­ed as leader by the Sen­ate Democ­rats,” Nel­son said in a state­ment released not long after cau­cus staff tweet­ed the results of the lead­er­ship elec­tion, held today in Olympia.

“We have a diverse cau­cus, but I believe I was elect­ed by my col­leagues because my fore­most goal is to do what I was sent here by my con­stituents to do — work for them. I demon­strat­ed my inclu­sive lead­er­ship style dur­ing the bud­get nego­ti­a­tions last year, and I intend to make that a focal point of my tenure as leader.”

We at NPI extend our con­grat­u­la­tions to Sharon on her elec­tion as Leader. In the past, we have worked with her on leg­is­la­tion to help vic­tims of shoddy/negligent con­struc­tion, and we found her to be an excel­lent lis­ten­er and an able leg­is­la­tor. We’re pleased to see that she will be tak­ing the helm of the Sen­ate Demo­c­ra­t­ic cau­cus, and we com­mend her for pledg­ing to be tough but fair.