Meet Washington’s newest state senator
From Morf Morford
Tacoma daily index
You haven’t seen her name or face on any campaign sign or flyer in your mail, but through a series of (relatively) unexpected events and some (again, relatively) quick decisions, a new Senator has been elected to Washington’s 27th legislature district – the largest Includes part of Tacoma.
It all started when Sen. Jeannie Darneille (D-Tacoma, 27th Legislative District) retired.
Senator Darneille had about a year left in office when a position emerged she couldn’t refuse.
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Darneille announced her resignation in September after holding the Senate seat for nine years. She has accepted a new position as Assistant Secretary for the Department of Women’s Prisons in the State Department of Justice.
Yasmin Trudeau may be a new presence for many of us in Tacoma, but she is no stranger to the political subtleties of Olympia.
Trudeau previously served as legislative director for the Washington Attorney General.
Previously, she was a policy analyst for the Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus, where she served on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Trade, and Economic Development and the Senate Ways and Ways Committee on the Budget.
She joined the caucus team after running the office of then Senator Pramila Jayapal as her legislative adviser.
Trudeau brings extensive legal experience to her new role as Senator. Since graduating from Seattle University School of Law, she has done several internships in Washington state, including one for Justice Mary Yu.
As Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) put it, “She will step on the ground as one of the best-prepared new Senators this body has ever seen. Her advocacy, empathy and passion for people and the civil service will be an asset and inspiration to her co-legislators and to the people of the 27th Legislative District. “
She was selected from a field of about 10 candidates by the District Democratic Committee (PCOs) officials of the 27th Legislative District (for replacing Darneille, a Democratic State senator). The PCOs voted on a number of top three candidates, with the final selection being made by Pierce County Council, which voted 7-0 for their nomination.
As a Bengali-American, Trudeau is the first woman of color to be elected Senator for April 27.
Trudeau’s appointment is effective immediately. Your first session as a Senator will begin on January 10, 2022.
A special election will take place in November 2022 for the remainder of the term of office.
With her clear competence and relevant experience (and her convincing personal history), Yasmin Trudeau joins the tradition of longstanding female executives in the 27th legislative district.
Strong women in our Senate
Powerhouses like Jeannie Darneille (https://ballotpedia.org/Jeannie_Darneille) and Lorraine Wojahn (www.historylink.org/File/10694?) Seemingly relentless pandemic and the most unsafe economy we’ve seen in decades, and you have a recipe for a momentous political experience for all of us.
The 27th legislative district is not known for its turnover.
Wojahn served four terms in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1976 and six terms in the Senate from 1977 to 2000, including three terms as President of the Senate pro tem.
A colleague once referred to Wojahn as “The Norse Goddess of Terror” – a label that she fully embodied – because of her powerful style, her tenacity and her influence on the legislature.
The co-legislator did not consider the term a compliment, but as some of us know, deliberate insults are possibly the best compliments.
Jeannie Darneille was a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. She was then a member of the Washington State Senate from January 2013 to November 1, 2021.
Grit, meet Grit
Foss High School alumni Senator Trudeau is a committed and, as she puts it, a level of hard-won “lived experience” that gives her the passion, insight, and energy that we as a community desperately need now.
“It is the courage of this community that has shaped me,” Trudeau told Pierce County Council prior to her appointment.
“To me, leadership means advancing the interests of your constituents and earning and continually earning the opportunity to represent your community,” she continued.
Tacoma is a community pulsing with competing, even conflicting, energies.
It is a truism that only the loudest voices can be heard in local politics. From what we’ve seen of her so far, Trudeau has learned to recognize those quieter, even muffled voices that cry out to be heard.
We have to respond to that whisper before it turns into screaming.
“Grit” is small by definition, but it affects everything it touches. That sums up the Tacoma I know.
At a time when “business as usual” is clearly not working, the well-known “grit” of our community and the “grit” of our new Senator will meet, clash, perhaps even completely new directions, solutions and, presumably, unexpected challenges and opportunities .
She and her husband are both lawyers who live in and have close ties with the greater Tacoma area.
She is young enough to be an asset to the 27th Legislative District for as long as the strong, memorable women who came before her.
Redistribution, which redistribution?
As you may know, due to the inconclusive results of the 2020 census, we have had some technical difficulties related to the necessary redistribution.
Our state redistribution commission, consisting of two Republicans and two Democrats, was unable to come to an agreement in time.
In 2022, all of Washington’s forty-nine legislative districts will (or could at least) have different boundaries due to population shift, but no one knows exactly what those boundaries will look like as the Redistricting Commission has not yet approved new legislative or congressional maps.
According to RCW 44.05.100, the Washington Supreme Court is now responsible for adopting a district plan.
New district lines should be set up by April 2022.