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Senator Sheldon to Retire
Reprinted with permission from Washington Forest Protection Association
State Senator Tim Sheldon (D-Potlatch), the Washington State Legislature’s longest-serving member, won’t seek another term in the fall. Sheldon announced his retirement the last day of the 2022 Legislative Session.
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Sheldon, with roots in the timber sector and whose family are private forest landowners, grew up along Hood Canal. It was his lifelong understanding of local priorities and focus on policies that impact small-town economies that made him among the few Democrats representing a rural district.
Elected to office in 1990, Sheldon has represented the 35th legislative district first as a State Representative the first decade and then State Senator for more than two decades after. A Seattle Times article described Sheldon as having an “independent streak” and a Kitsap Sun story noted that “while he’s always run as a Democrat, he was never afraid to go against the party, even caucusing at times with Republicans.”
Between 2012–2017, Sheldon and then State Senator Rodney Tom (D-Medina) crossed the aisle and caucused with Republicans. Sheldon, Tom, and about two dozen Republicans formed the bipartisan Majority Coalition Caucus. The move created a functional Senate majority for Republicans. Many of Sheldon’s Democratic colleagues chafed at his actions. But Sheldon said that while he would always maintain his Democratic party affiliation, he opposed his party’s leadership stance on taxation and other issues.
Among his legislative achievements, Sheldon lists his work in the 1990s to support the forestry sector and workers impacted by the listing of the Northern spotted owl as an endangered species and the loss of timber harvests throughout the coastal areas. Sheldon also worked to protect the identities of juvenile sex abuse victims and was a strident supporter of transportation investments that helped reduce congestion and shorten commute times.
Sheldon officially leaves the Legislature in January 2023 when his current term expires.
