Sen. Steve Conway (D-South Tacoma) announced Wednesday that after 34 years of service in the Washington State Legislature, he will not seek reelection.

“It has been the honor of my life to serve my community in this way,” Conway said. “I’m fortunate to be able to look back on decades of work, friendships, but most importantly, I hope I was able to make a difference in the lives of the people who kept sending me back to Olympia year after year. I’m most grateful to them. Now it’s time to return to my family and enter a new chapter of my life.”

Conway has served the 29th Legislative District since 1993, first as a state representative for 18 years and then as a senator beginning in 2011. This stretch of public service makes Conway the longest serving active Democrat in the Legislature.

Conway serves in a leadership role as the Senate’s President Pro Tempore. In addition to that, he’s vice chair of the Labor & Commerce Committee, a member of the Ways & Means Committee, and vice chair of the Senate Rules Committee. Since he arrived in Olympia 34 years ago, Conway has continuously served on labor committees. He was chair of the House Labor Committee for a decade and served in the same role in the Senate for several years.

A long-time political activist and enthusiast, he has been involved in politics since his college years. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where he earned a master’s and doctoral degree in history. He then served as a Fulbright Fellow at the London School of Economics, earning his PhD.

Prior to elected life, Conway was employed as a labor relations specialist for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 81. During that time, he worked to secure living wages, safe workplaces, and equitable benefits for many working people and their families.

He brought that experience to the Legislature, where he helped develop Washington’s collective bargaining laws, unemployment insurance program, workers compensation system, apprenticeship program, Paid Family and Medical Leave program, and countless other policies that have helped working families for a generation.

Conway has also been intimately involved in the state’s pension policy. He is the longest serving member of the Select Committee on Pension Policy, a committee that has made Washington’s pension system one of the best funded in the nation. Conway was also an early advocate to create the Joint Committee on Veterans’ & Military Affairs, a committee on which he still sits.

Conway has also delivered funding for countless local projects during his career. His work helped expand the University of Washington Tacoma, build the LeMay Car Museum, the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, and most recently, the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. Additionally, Conway has secured funding for countless public works improvements, transportation infrastructure upgrades, community centers, historical preservation, public parks, and more in the 29^th Legislative District.

He and his wife, Georgia, a retired children’s specialist for the Tacoma Public Library system, have been married since 1968. They have two sons whose families live in Washington and now have four grandchildren.