State Sen. Schoesler steps down as minority leader, as lawmakers pick 2021 leaders
Long-serving state Sen. Mark Schoesler says he’ll step down from the role of Senate Minority Leader, as Washington state legislators continue to choose their leadership for the 2021 legislative session.
Schoesler, a Republican who represents parts or all of the eastern Washington counties of Adams, Asotin, Franklin, Garfield, Spokane, and Whitman, will enter the session an ordinary Senate member for the first time in over a decade. He was recently reelected with over 65% of votes in the sprawling 9th Legislative District.
“This is not a retirement, this is a matter of eight years I’ve had a smartphone with me 24/7, even traveling overseas,” Schoesler said in a phone interview with McClatchy. “So, the responsibilities, politically and legislatively — it was just time to downshift a gear and do more things with my kids, grandkids, and my farm that I love.”
The senator is a fifth-generation dryland wheat farmer in Ritzville.
Schoesler was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1992 and served there until he was elected to the Senate in 2004, Secretary of State archives show. After the 2005 session, he told McClatchy, he was elected to serve as Whip. After 2007, he said, he became floor leader. He ran for and was elected Minority Leader in 2012, after the previous leader announced he was stepping down.
He was there for the formation of the state Senate’s “Majority Coalition Caucus” — at first made up of all 23 Republican members plus two Democratic senators, Sens. Tim Sheldon and Rodney Tom, that formed a majority and took control of the chamber. That control ended in 2017 with the election of Democrat Manka Dhingra.
Asked if he had a successor in mind, Schoesler said “a number of members” are capable. Anyone in this position needs to “remember that when you speak, you’re speaking for every member of the caucus,” he said, and be able to take “hard votes.”
Senate Republicans are scheduled to choose caucus leadership Thursday, according to caucus spokesperson Kimberly Wirtz.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats voted on committee memberships and leadership positions on Monday. Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives already elected peers to serve in key leadership positions, as McClatchy previously reported.
Senate Democrats previously re-elected Sen. Andy Billig of Spokane as Majority Leader and chose Sen. Bob Hasegawa from Seattle’s Beacon Hill to serve as Caucus Chair.
Key changes to leadership made Monday, according to a caucus press release, include Sen. Emily Randall of Bremerton stepping into the role of Majority Whip, which was previously held by Sen. Mark Mullet. Mullet is filling a new leadership position of “Leadership Liaison to the Business Community,” according to the press release.
A second new leadership position was also filled: Sen. Derek Stanford from Bothell will serve as “Leadership Liaison to Tribal Communities.”
Sen. Mona Das from Kent will serve as Majority Vice Caucus Chair, a role previously held by Sen. Hasegawa. Sen. Joe Nguyen of White Center will be Assistant Majority Caucus Floor Leader, a post held by Sen. Patty Kuderer from Bellevue, and Sen. Steve Hobbs of Lake Stevens will serve as Vice President Pro Tempore alongside Sen. Steve Conway.
And in another change-up, the Senate combined two committees — the Housing Stability & Affordability Committee and the Local Government Committee — to create the Housing & Local Government Committee, according to the release. The new committee will be chaired by Kuderer, who’s chair of the housing committee.
“I’m honored that my colleagues asked me to continue leading our work on housing affordability and reducing homelessness in Washington state,” Kuderer said in a prepared statement. “Lawmakers have a lot of work to do this session, especially in light of all the economic hardships brought on by the pandemic. But I’m confident our committee will meet these challenges and push through effective policies that will truly help people during this crisis.”
The decisions regarding committee structure and membership aren’t official until the full Senate votes at the start of session, according to the caucus.
The long session is scheduled to start Jan. 11, and last 105 days. The state Senate has shared its plan to primarily conduct session virtually, via Zoom, while the House has not yet formally announced the details of its plan.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 6:08 PM.
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