Reuven Carlyle taking oath of office
Reuven Carlyle taking oath of office

This after­noon, in its first meet­ing of 2016, the Met­ro­pol­i­tan King Coun­ty Coun­cil act­ed to fill two vacan­cies in the Wash­ing­ton State Leg­is­la­ture, both result­ing from Jeanne Kohl-Welles’ move from the Sen­ate to the King Coun­ty Council.

By a vote of nine to zero, the Coun­cil first appoint­ed State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Reuven Car­lyle (D‑36th Dis­trict: Bal­lard, Green­wood, Queen Anne) to take Kohl-Welles’ place in the Sen­ate, and then unan­i­mous­ly appoint­ed Noel Frame to take the place of Car­lyle in the Wash­ing­ton State House of Representatives.

Reuven Carlyle taking oath of office
Reuven Car­lyle tak­ing oath of office

Car­lyle and Frame were among three nom­i­nees put for­ward by the Demo­c­ra­t­ic Par­ty to fill each vacan­cy. Each was the respec­tive top choice of the Demo­c­ra­t­ic PCOs in the 36th, and they were expect­ed to be cho­sen by the Council.

Car­lyle and Frame were invit­ed to give remarks and then sworn in to their new posi­tions imme­di­ate­ly fol­low­ing the votes. Each will need to report for work in Olympia with­in a hun­dred hours. As required by the Wash­ing­ton State Con­sti­tu­tion, the 2016 leg­isla­tive ses­sion is sched­uled to begin this com­ing Mon­day, Jan­u­ary 11th. It will be a short ses­sion, last­ing up to six­ty days in duration.

It is com­mon for vacan­cies in the Sen­ate to be filled by mem­bers of the House from the same dis­trict. It’s hap­pened many, many times over the years.

Sharon Nel­son, David Frockt, Cyrus Habib, Mar­a­lyn Chase, Bob Hasegawa, and Dean Takko are among the mem­bers of the Sen­ate Demo­c­ra­t­ic cau­cus who used to serve in the House, but moved to the Sen­ate when a posi­tion came open. When such tran­si­tions occur, they open up posi­tions in the House for aspir­ing new leaders.

Noel Frame after taking oath of office
Noel Frame after tak­ing oath of office

We at NPI extend our con­grat­u­la­tions to Reuven Car­lyle and Noel Frame on their new roles (and to Noel, wel­come to pub­lic ser­vice!) We’re con­fi­dent they will do their best to facil­i­tate a more robust dis­cus­sion about the need for struc­tur­al tax reform and full com­pli­ance with the Supreme Court’s McCleary orders.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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2 replies on “King County Council appoints Reuven Carlyle to State Senate, Noel Frame to State House”

  1. Good post, some­times, con­stituents don’t even notice when they move up. They just see the name they are famil­iar with and vote accordingly.

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