State Sen. Pam Roach will retire soon from the Legislature after being elected to the Pierce County Council this year.
Roach plans to resign on Jan. 3, the same day she is sworn into her four-year term on the council, she said on Thursday. The Republican from Sumner was first elected to the state Senate in 1990 and is the longest serving member of the Senate.
Though Roach’s term in the Legislature doesn’t end until 2019, she said during her County Council campaign that holding both offices wasn’t her plan. A new county charter amendment also bans her from doing so. Voters passed the prohibition on dual officeholding in the same election they picked Roach for the council.
But while Republican organizations had begun planning to appoint a new senator in her stead, Roach was quiet for weeks after election about when she might leave the Legislature.
A new senator can’t be chosen until she officially resigns from the Senate.
Republican state Sen. Bruce Dammeier, who was recently elected Pierce County executive, said in early December he planned to leave the Senate on Dec. 31. He also is bound by the charter amendment. Voters elected state Rep. Hans Zeiger, R-Puyallup, to take Dammeier’s Senate seat.
Two Republicans have publicly said they are interested in being appointed to Roach’s seat: Pierce County Charter Review Commission Chairwoman Sharon Hanek of Bonney Lake and state Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn.
Hanek and others familiar with the process have said Republican state Rep. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, is also interested.
When Roach resigns, the state Republican party will call a meeting of 31st Legislative District precinct committee officers. The PCOs will choose three names to give to the Pierce and King county councils since the 31st District includes parts of both counties. The council members then vote on which of the three to appoint.
The district includes Auburn, Edgewood, Sumner, Lake Tapps, Bonney Lake, Enumclaw, Buckley, South Prairie, Wilkeson and Carbonado.
