Sharon Nelson
Sharon Nelson is a former Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 34 from 2011 to 2019. Nelson served as state Senate minority leader.
Nelson represented District 34-Position 2 in the Washington House of Representatives from her appointment in 2007 until 2011.
Biography
Nelson earned her B.A. in psychology from Whitman College. Nelson is a former chief of staff for Metropolitan King County Council member Dow Constantine, and was a vice president at Bank of America and Seafirst Bank before assuming office. She is also the founding president of Preserve Our Islands, a 501(c)(3) environmental organization focused on protecting the Puget Sound nearshore.[1]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Rules |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Nelson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
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| • Rules |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Nelson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions & Insurance |
| • Ways & Means |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Nelson served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Environment, Water & Energy, Vice chair |
| • Early Learning & K-12 Education |
| • Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections |
| • Transportation |
Elections
2018
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2018
Sharon Nelson did not file to run for re-election.
2014
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for 25 districts in the Washington State Senate 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 Sharon Nelson (D) was unopposed in the primary. Nelson was unopposed in the general election.[2][3][4]
2010
Nelson did not run for re-election to the Washington House of Representatives in 2010. She ran unopposed for District 34 in the Washington State Senate.[5]
| Washington State Senate, District 34 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Sharon Nelson (R)
|
37,309 | 100% | ||
| Washington State Senate, District 34 Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Sharon K. Nelson (D)
|
20,530 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Democrat Sharon Nelson won re-election to the Washington House of Representatives, District 34-Position 2 receiving 100.00% of the vote (46,142 votes). She ran unopposed.
| Washington House of Representatives, District 34-Position 2 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Sharon Nelson (D)
|
46,142 | 100.00% | ||
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.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Nelson and her husband, John, have two children.
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.
2018
In 2018, the Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 8 through March 8.
- 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 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.
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.[6]
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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.[7]
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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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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 9 to March 8.[8]
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 10 through April 24.
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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.[9] 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.[9] Nelson missed 48 votes in a total of 1017 roll calls. Nelson responded to the number of missed votes. “Regrettably, I had to miss some votes this session due to my new role as Senate Democratic leader. The session involved frequent leadership meetings with Senate Republicans, House leaders and the Governor’s office, often called on an impromptu basis. As my caucus is not in control of scheduling floor time, sometimes I had to miss votes due to these other meetings,” she said.[10]
Freedom Foundation
The Freedom Foundation releases its Big Spender List annually. The Institute ranks all Washington legislators based on their total proposed tax and fee increases. To find each legislator’s total, the Institute adds up the 10-year tax increases or decreases, as estimated by Washington’s Office of Financial Management, of all bills sponsored or co-sponsored by that legislator.[11]
2012
Nelson proposed a 10-year increase in state taxes and fees of $31.54 billion, the highest amount of proposed new taxes and fees of the 46 Washington state senators on the Freedom Foundation’s 2012 Big Spender List.
- See also: Washington Freedom Foundation Legislative Scorecard (2012)
The Freedom Foundation also issued its 2012 Informed Voter Guide for Washington State voters, including a legislative score card documenting how Washington State legislators voted upon bills the Foundation deemed important legislation. The legislation analyzed covered budget, taxation, and pension issues.[12] A sign indicates a bill more in line with the Foundation's stated goals, and a
sign indicates a bill out of step with the Foundation's values. Here's how Nelson voted on the specific pieces of legislation:
| 2012 Senate Scorecard - Sharon Nelson | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill #6636 (Balanced budget requirement) |
Bill #5967 (Senate Republicans budget) |
Bill #6582 (Local transportation tax increases) |
Bill #6378 (Pension reforms) | ||||||||
| N | N | Y | N | ||||||||
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Sharon + Nelson + Washington + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Washington State Legislature
- Washington State Senate
- Washington State Senate Committees
- Washington Joint Committees
- Washington State Senate District 34
External links
- Sharon Nelson's campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Profile by Vote-USA
- Project Vote Smart legislative profile
- Project Vote Smart biography
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 14, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Vote-Washington.org, "Biographical Profile for Sharon K. Nelson," accessed July 12, 2014
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
- ↑ Washington Policy, "2014 Missed Votes Report," accessed April 9, 2014
- ↑ Freedom Foundation, "2012 Big Spender List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ My Freedom Foundation, "Home," accessed June 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joe McDermott |
Washington State Senate District 34 2011–2019 |
Succeeded by Joe Nguyen (D) |
| Preceded by - |
Washington House of Representatives District 34-Position 2 2007–2010 |
Succeeded by Joe Fitzgibbon |
