OLYMPIA — Republican Sen. Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla will not seek re-election in 2016.
He announced his decision in a written statement Tuesday. Hewitt is serving his fourth Senate term in Washington’s Legislature, and was first elected to the statehouse in 2000. His term ends in January 2017.
He said in the statement it was time to step aside after “15 good years” serving his community.
Hewitt most recently served on the Senate’s Ways and Means and Natural Resources and Parks Committees. He was a Senate Republican Leader from 2005 until 2012. Hewitt, who has lived in the Walla Walla Valley his entire life, was a business owner for 23 years before becoming a lawmaker.
