David Sawyer (Washington)
David Sawyer (Democratic Party) was a member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing District 29-Position 1. Sawyer assumed office on January 14, 2013. Sawyer left office on January 14, 2019.
Sawyer (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Washington House of Representatives to represent District 29-Position 1. Sawyer lost in the primary on August 7, 2018.
Sawyer was mentioned in the wave of sexual misconduct allegations in late 2017 and 2018. To read more, click here.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Commerce & Gaming, Chair |
| • Community Development, Housing and Tribal Affairs |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Sawyer served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Community Development, Housing and Tribal Affairs |
| • Early Learning and Human Services |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Sawyer served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Community Development, Housing and Tribal Affairs |
| • Early Learning and Human Services |
| • Higher Education |
Campaign themes
2016
Sawyer's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
An Economy That Works for All:
Closing the Opportunity Gap:
Protecting the vulnerable:
|
” |
| —David Sawyer, [2] | ||
2012
Sawyer's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[3]
- On Jobs
- Excerpt: "We need incentives. Business owners can be encouraged to open their doors in our community through targeted incentives that encourage them to grow and expand here. We need to allow our businesses to hire more people and create new, local family wage jobs."
- On Education
- Excerpt: "This is a global economy and we need to recognize that our students are competing for jobs on a global level. We have a responsibility to ensure that our students are prepared – all children deserve the best chance at competing for the jobs of the future."
- On Crime
- Excerpt: "First it is important to recognize that prevention is far less costly than building prisons. Programs that focus on preventing crime - keeping young people in school and finding stable jobs for people willing to work- is a far better way to prevent crimes from occurring. But for those who refuse to follow the rules, the penalty must be swift and certain."
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
See also: Washington House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1
Melanie Morgan defeated Terry Harder in the general election for Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Melanie Morgan (D) | 61.0 | 22,817 | |
| Terry Harder (R) | 39.0 | 14,567 | ||
| Total votes: 37,384 | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1
Melanie Morgan and Terry Harder defeated incumbent David Sawyer and Janis Clark in the primary for Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Melanie Morgan (D) | 41.5 | 7,125 | |
| ✔ | Terry Harder (R) | 24.6 | 4,231 | |
| David Sawyer (D) | 22.2 | 3,819 | ||
| Janis Clark (R) | 11.6 | 1,991 | ||
| Total votes: 17,166 | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Washington House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 20, 2016.
Incumbent David Sawyer defeated Rick Thomas in the Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 general election.[4]
| Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  David Sawyer Incumbent |
59.28% | 24,234 | |
| Independent Republican | Rick Thomas | 40.72% | 16,646 | |
| Total Votes | 40,880 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent David Sawyer and Rick Thomas defeated Branden Durst in the Washington House of Representatives District 29-Position 1 top two primary.[5][6]
| Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1 Top Two Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | David Sawyer Incumbent |
41.00% | 6,252 | |
| Independent Republican | Rick Thomas |
35.29% | 5,381 | |
| Democratic | Branden Durst | 23.70% | 3,614 | |
| Total Votes | 15,247 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||||
2014
Elections for the Washington House of Representatives took place in 2014. A blanket primary election took place on August 5, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 17, 2014. Incumbent David Sawyer (D) and Jason Bergstrom (R) were unopposed in the primary. Sawyer defeated Bergstrom in the general election.[7][8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Sawyer Incumbent |
55.8% | 12,356 | |
| Republican | Jason Bergstrom | 44.2% | 9,792 | |
| Total Votes | 22,148 | |||
2012
Sawyer won election in the 2012 election for Washington House of Representatives, District 29-Position 1. Sawyer advanced past the August 7 blanket primary election and defeated Terry Harder (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | David Sawyer |
63.3% | 25,669 | |
| Republican | Terry Harder | 36.7% | 14,871 | |
| Total Votes | 40,540 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |
David Sawyer |
38.7% | 6,404 | |
| Republican | Terry Harder |
36.8% | 6,101 | |
| Democratic | Ben Lawver | 24.5% | 4,058 | |
| Total Votes | 16,563 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Washington scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 13 to March 12.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on legislation supported by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the state’s business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to home building industry issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on firearm policies.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against WSLC's position.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Washington State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 28.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 8 through March 8.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 9 through April 23. There were also special sessions. The first special session was April 24 through May 23. The second special session was May 23 through June 21. The third special session was June 21 through July 20.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 64th Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 11 through March 10. The legislature held a special session from March 11 to March 29 to pass a supplemental budget.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 64th Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 12 through April 24. The legislature was in special session from April 29 to May 28, May 29 to June 27 and June 28 to July 10.[12]
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 13 to March 14.[13]
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 14 to April 29.
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Missed Votes Report
- See also: Washington House of Representatives and Washington State Senate
In March 2014, Washington Votes, a legislative information website, released its annual Missed Votes Report, which provides detailed missed roll call votes on bills for every state legislator during the 2014 legislative session.[14] The 2014 regular session included a total of 515 votes in the State House and 396 in the State Senate, as well as 1,372 bills introduced total in the legislature and 237 bills passed. Out of all roll call votes, 90 individual legislators did not miss any votes. Three individual legislators missed more than 50 votes.[14] Sawyer missed 0 votes in a total of 1211 roll calls.
Endorsements
2016
In 2016, Sawyer’s endorsements included the following:[15]
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Noteworthy events
Resignation as committee chair following inappropriate behavior (2018)
On June 11, 2018, Sawyer stepped down as chairman of the Commerce and Gaming Committee following the release of a report by House Democratic officials that found Sawyer behaved inappropriately toward three legislative staffers. The report from an independent investigation found that Sawyer made offensive text messages, comments and jokes about an employee's sexual orientation, and used employee time to discuss an investigation into sexual allegations against him. Sawyer released a statement apologizing for his behavior. "Clearly my actions made people who work with me uncomfortable. I sincerely apologize to those individuals, and I recognize that they felt they could not express their concerns due to my position as an elected official," he wrote.[16][17]
On February 21, 2018, the Seattle Times reported that Sawyer was being investigated by the state House over a sexual harassment allegation. Sawyer initially did not comment on the investigation.[18] He later denied the allegations and said he would run for re-election.[19]
On May 9, 2018, the Washington House Democratic caucus voted to suspend Sawyer from his position as chair of the Commerce and Gaming committee and said further action would be considered following the conclusion of an independent investigation.[20]
House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan (D) said that the initial investigation confirmed some of the allegations. Democratic leaders released a statement saying that "substantiated allegations of workplace misconduct will result in consequences, no matter one’s political party." Sawyer responded in his own statement, "I support a fair and transparent investigation. This does not reflect that at all. In fact, it reflects poorly on the institution we all have a responsibility to honor."[21]
See also
- Washington State Legislature
- Washington House of Representatives
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Washington House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Washington House of Representatives Committees
- Washington Joint Committees
- Washington state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Office website
- House page
- Campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Profile by Vote-USA
- Campaign Facebook page
- Project Vote Smart profile
- Sawyer's LinkedIn profile
- Campaign contributions: 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Elect David Sawyer, "Priorities," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ David Sawyer, "Priorities," accessed August 4, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "General Election Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 23, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 2, 2016 Primary Results," accessed August 25, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2014 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 20, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 5, 2014, Official Primary Results," accessed August 5, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Official general election results, 2014," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed April 17, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 07, 2012 Primary Results - Legislative - All Results," accessed August 15, 2012
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
- ↑ Elect David Sawyer, "Endorsements," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Washington Rep. David Sawyer of Tacoma acted inappropriately toward legislative staff, investigation finds," June 11, 2018
- ↑ U.S. News & World Report, "Lawmaker Resigns Chairmanship Following Investigation," June 13, 2018
- ↑ K5 News, "House investigating allegations against state Rep. David Sawyer," February 21, 2018
- ↑ The News Tribune, "Tacoma state lawmaker defies calls to resign following allegations of inappropriate behavior," March 14, 2018
- ↑ Washington State Wire, "House Democrats vote to suspend Rep. Sawyer’s chairmanship following evidence of workplace misconduct," May 9, 2018
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Washington state House Democrats suspend Rep. David Sawyer’s chairmanship over allegations of inappropriate behavior," May 9, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Connie Ladenburg (D) |
Washington House of Representatives District 29 2013–2019 |
Succeeded by Melanie Morgan (D) |
