Veteran state Sen. Karen Keiser bade farewell to her colleagues in the final hours of the 2024 legislative session.
But the Des Moines Democrat hasn’t left them behind just yet. As it turns out, she’s not up for election until 2026.
Nonetheless, she’s penciled in an exit for early December, the midpoint of her current term and the 30-year anniversary of her arrival in the Washington state Legislature.
“It was a farewell, not a retirement speech. I have a lot of loose ends to tie up,” she said in a post-session conversation.
One reason Keiser gave for leaving is “a little sense of frustration” with how the session played out.
“We had so much caution that many things got left on the table that could have been worked out,” she said, citing bills to stabilize rents, provide unemployment aid to striking workers, and enshrine a legal right to an abortion in the state constitution.
“I think these initiatives had everyone running scared,” she said, referring to six conservative-pushed citizen initiatives dealing with hot-button issues such as taxes, public safety and climate policy. The Legislature approved three and three others will be decided by voters this fall.
“We have the majority. It’s just sad that we didn’t take the opportunity that we should have,” she added.
Looking ahead
Another reason Keiser is sticking around a few more months is that she isn’t done with her to-do list. As chair of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, she is lining up issues to tackle in the interim. She said she wants to finish work with the task forces she serves on.
As dean of the Senate Democratic Caucus, she also wants to stay past the November election to help choose a new majority leader as the current one, Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, isn’t running for reelection.
This will enable Keiser to also help decide the committee assignments of Democratic members, including who will chair those panels without a leader. There will be a few due to the departure of several Democrats.
Keiser, who studied journalism, worked as a television news reporter and later communications director for the Washington State Labor Council.
She was appointed to fill an open House seat in 1994 and served there until 2001, when she was appointed to a seat in the state Senate. She’s been reelected six times representing the 33rd Legislative District, which includes all or part of the cities of SeaTac, Des Moines, Kent, Burien and Normandy Park.
She said she plans “to enjoy a very active retirement” that will include writing a second book. Her first, a guidebook for effective legislating entitled “Getting Elected is the Easy Part”, came out last summer.
Who’s interested in the seat?
Keiser’s retirement timetable creates an interesting dynamic for the district’s two Democratic state representatives, Tina Orwall and Mia Gregerson, both of whom are interested in the seat.
They are both favored to win re-election to the House this fall and would then vie for the appointment to the Senate seat when it becomes open. Had Keiser left before May, the two might have faced off in a special election.
“I will be strongly exploring the option of going through the process to move to the State Senate,” Gregerson said in a social media post last week. “For now I am focused on finishing this legislative session and getting as much done as possible.”
Orwall posted a statement on Facebook. “It is an honor to serve our district and do hope to continue this critical work including exploring the Senate seat when the time is right,” she wrote.
Keiser said waiting until December “will give plenty of time for people to decide what they want to do.” That includes the district’s Democratic precinct officers, who will nominate three people for the post, and the King County Council, which will choose one of the three for the job.
The Washington State Standard is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics. We seek to keep you informed about Washington’s most pressing issues, the decisions elected leaders are making, how they are spending tax dollars and who is influencing public policy.
