Tim Sheldon

Timothy M. Sheldon (born September 3, 1947) is an American politician who has served 22 years in the Washington State Legislature as a Democrat representing the sprawling 35th District, which includes all of Mason County and parts of Thurston, Kitsap and Grays Harbor Counties.^[1] Since 2004 he has also represented Mason County as a Mason County Commissioner. Sheldon was born in Mason County, and has lived there most of his life. He attended public schools until he entered the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, graduating in 1969 with a BS in Economics. He earned his MBA at the University of Washington.

He is also a Mason County Commissioner for District 2, a position he has held since 2005.

Following a decade of work in economic development for Native American tribes, Sheldon began a new career as Executive Director of the non-profit Mason County Economic Development Council, a post he held for 18 years.

First elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1990, Sheldon served four terms there before being elected to the State Senate in 1997. Currently in his fourth 4-year Senate term, Sheldon has a seat on the Senate Transportation Committees. He concurrently has held the office of Mason County Commissioner,District 2, since 2005.

Party ties

Sheldon has earned the reputation of being a maverick by consistently bucking his party's agenda and by working across the aisle to get legislation passed. He made himself unpopular with the Democratic Caucus by taking a strong stance against funding the Mariners and Seahawks sports stadiums with State monies, calling the proposed legislation "corporate welfare." He also voted against budgets that he felt did more harm than good to his mostly rural constituents, even when his party supported them. He has been accused of being a moderate and termed a "Republican in sheep's clothing" or a "maverick" due to his erratic voting history. He voted for Republican George W. Bush in 2004 and then Democratic candidate Barack Obama in 2008.^[2] He was one of three Democratic state senators to vote against the gay-marriage bill.^[3] After the 2012 state legislature elections, he and Senator Rodney Tom joined the Republicans in a "Majority Coalition Caucus," resulting in a power sharing agreement, effectively giving the two Democrats control of the state senate along with 23 Republicans. The Caucus chairs the most powerful committees (such as ways and means, commerce and labor, and K-12 education, among others) for the 2013-14 session, and a few committees, such a Transportation, chare a truly bipartisan co-chair with the Democratic Caucus. Sheldon is currently President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and was elected by both Democrats and Republicans.

Sheldon is acting President of the Senate when the Lt. Governor is not available, or when he or she is acting Governor. He is also serving on the Energy Environment & Telecommunications, Rules and Transportation Committees.^[4][5][6]

References

1. ↑ Sen. Timothy Sheldon (D-WA 35th District)
2. ↑ Gardner, Steven. "Tim Sheldon Makes No Apologies for Dual Roles". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved 23 March 2012. 
3. ↑ JORDAN SCHRADER, BRAD SHANNON. "Senate votes 28-21 to legalize gay marriage". The News Tribune. Retrieved 23 March 2012. 
4. ↑ http://www.leg.wa.gov/senate/senators/Pages/sheldon.aspx
5. ↑ http://senatorsheldon.org/
6. ↑ http://www.redstate.com/tag/tim-sheldon/

External links

• Sheldon's official State Senate page
• Sheldon's MCC page
• Olympian Article on Sheldon's election as pro tempore
• Sheldon takes control of Senate with Tom