Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig released the following statement Friday following the resignation of Sen. Guy Palumbo:
“Sen. Palumbo has informed me he intends to resign his seat in the state senate, effective today.
“Sen. Palumbo has done an excellent job representing the people of the 1st Legislative District and has been a particularly strong advocate on issues related to higher education, transportation, climate and energy.
“We will miss him in the senate but definitely understand his reasons for leaving as the job of being a legislator can be difficult to mesh with the realities of families and other professional work.
“I thank Sen. Palumbo for his hard work in the Senate and for Washington. I wish him and his family all the best in the future.”
Here’s the process for filling the seat in the 1st Legislative District: Upon a vacancy created in a legislative office, a special meeting of the district’s party organization of the same party as the former legislator (e.g. 1st Legislative District Democrats) is called to nominate three names for consideration by the county legislative authorities contained within the Legislative District – in this case the King and Snohomish County Councils. At a special meeting, those councilmembers shall then choose the person from the list of three party nominees to fill out the term. If the county legislative authorities do not agree on an appointment within 60 days, the Governor shall appoint a person from the list within the succeeding 30 days. The appointee will represent the 1st LD during the 2020 legislative session and if they choose, run for re-election in 2020 when Sen. Palumbo’s term would have expired.
