Sen­a­tor David Frockt — who has rep­re­sent­ed Wash­ing­ton’s 46th Leg­isla­tive Dis­trict in the Wash­ing­ton State Sen­ate since the pass­ing of the great Scott White — has decid­ed to leave the state­house after the 2022 ses­sion and pass the baton to some­one else, the Sen­ate Demo­c­ra­t­ic cau­cus announced today.

“When I first ran for office in 2010, I saw a need for new lead­er­ship in our com­mu­ni­ty,” said Frockt in a state­ment, ref­er­enc­ing his ini­tial campaign.

“Rep­re­sent­ing the peo­ple of North Seat­tle, Lake For­est Park and Ken­more since then has been a dis­tinct hon­or where I have been afford­ed the chance to work on some of the great­est chal­lenges fac­ing our state. But I came to this job with the firm con­vic­tion that the priv­i­lege of pub­lic ser­vice does not con­fer a right to a posi­tion that one holds for­ev­er, and for me, the time has come for renewal.”

“Sen­a­tor Frockt is both a good friend and a gift­ed leg­is­la­tor,” said Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Andy Bil­lig (D‑Spokane; 3rd District).

“I am grate­ful for his ser­vice to our state. He has been a leader on so many impor­tant issues, par­tic­u­lar­ly health care, high­er edu­ca­tion and the cap­i­tal bud­get. While his depar­ture at the end of 2022 will be a big loss for our cau­cus and the Leg­is­la­ture, I am glad that we have a final ses­sion to work togeth­er and cel­e­brate his many achieve­ments. The peo­ple of his dis­trict and our state will ben­e­fit from his thought­ful leg­is­la­tion for gen­er­a­tions to come.”

“David will be leav­ing a lega­cy to both his dis­trict and the state,” said Sen­a­tor Chris­tine Rolfes (D‑Bainbridge Island; 23rd Dis­trict), Chair of the Sen­ate Ways & Means Com­mit­tee, who works close­ly with Frockt. “He leads with a pas­sion for help­ing oth­ers and an abil­i­ty to cut through polit­i­cal noise to make real­ly strong, pro­gres­sive pub­lic pol­i­cy. His integri­ty, hum­ble demeanor, and sense of humor make him some­one that his col­leagues trust and enjoy work­ing with. He’s just an all-around great per­son, and I’m glad we get him for one more year.”

Sen­a­tor Frockt will unques­tion­ably be depart­ing with not just a lega­cy, but a great lega­cy Our team at NPI has been hon­ored to work with him over the years on chal­leng­ing Tim Eyman’s uncon­sti­tu­tion­al ini­tia­tives, increas­ing fund­ing for geo­log­ic haz­ards research, and bal­anc­ing the state’s upside down tax code.

Sen­a­tor Frockt has con­sis­tent­ly sup­port­ed NPI’s essen­tial research and advo­ca­cy, for which we are grate­ful. He is an incred­i­bly thought­ful and com­mit­ted leg­is­la­tor who takes the time to lis­ten to his con­stituents and activists work­ing for change.

We’ll miss his pres­ence in the Sen­ate Demo­c­ra­t­ic cau­cus after next year’s short leg­isla­tive ses­sion and the 2022 midterms, but hope­ful­ly there will be oppor­tu­ni­ties for us to con­tin­ue work­ing to advance pro­gres­sive caus­es together.

Because Sen­a­tor Frockt is retir­ing at the end of his term, there will not need to be a spe­cial nom­i­nat­ing cau­cus or appoint­ment process. Frockt will sim­ply pass the baton over to the per­son that vot­ers choose to suc­ceed him at the end of 2022.

The 46th, like all of Wash­ing­ton State’s leg­isla­tive dis­tricts, will look some­what dif­fer­ent once new maps are in place, but it’s like­ly to still be a North Seat­tle dis­trict. Peo­ple who might explore can­di­da­cies for the Wash­ing­ton State Sen­ate to suc­ceed Frockt could include State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Ger­ry Pol­let, State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Javier Valdez, or for­mer State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Jessyn Far­rell, who left the Leg­is­la­ture in 2017 to run for May­or of Seattle.