Today, the Metropolitan King County Council appointed Javier Valdez, forty-six, as Washington State’s newest legislator. Representative Valdez succeeds Jessyn Farrell, who resigned several days ago to focus on her Seattle mayoral campaign.
Javier Valdez watches the roll call at the 2016 Democratic National Convention (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
Javier is well known in Democratic Party circles in Washington State; he represents the 46th District on the Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC) and the 7th Congressional District on the WSDCC’s executive board. He previously served the WSDCC as one of two King County committeemembers, and was a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention for Hillary Clinton.
In last Saturday’s special nominating caucus, Javier was the first choice of PCOs in the 46th District to succeed Jessyn Farrell. The others chosen on the list of three were Melissa Wingard-Phillips Taylor and Nigel Herbig.
I’ve known Javier for many years and have always appreciated his support of NPI’s work, including his attendance at our annual Spring Fundraising Gala.
Javier’s calm thinking and strong command of parliamentary procedure have served the Democratic Party well over the years. I am confident the Washington State Legislature and the House Democratic caucus will benefit from Javier’s talents.
Javier Valdez is sworn in as the state’s newest legislator (Photo: Mario Brown/NPI)
Washington’s House and Senate have very few Latinx members (even though the state has a substantial Latinx and Spanish-speaking population), so Javier’s appointment will also strengthen the institution’s ethnic diversity.
Javier joins the Legislature at a difficult time. The state is only days away from a government shutdown because legislators haven’t been seriously negotiating on a budget. Senate Republicans have been deliberately dragging their feet out of the belief that procrastinating will serve their interests.
As a result of Javier’s appointment, the House Democratic caucus is now back at full strength and has enough members (fifty) to pass legislation again.
The completion of this nominating and appointment process for the 46th should help Democrats increase pressure on Republicans to negotiate with them.
On behalf of NPI, I extend Javier our warmest congratulations on his appointment. We look forward to seeing him in action in person in Olympia and on TVW.
One Comment
Yay for Javier!