Biography
22nd Legislative District
The 22nd District is the center of the South Sound and includes the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater as well as unincorporated northern Thurston County, including Cooper Point, Boston Harbor, Johnson Point and part of the Nisqually Delta. It is the home of The Evergreen State College, Saint Martin’s University, South Puget Sound Community College, and, of course, the state Capitol.
Senator Hunt was elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is chair of the State Government & Elections Committee and is also a member of the Ways & Means and Early Learning & K-12 Education committees. In addition, he the serves on the Legislative Oral History Advisory, Capitol Campus Design Advisory, Public Records Exemptions Accountability and Semiquincentennial Committees, the Project Education Impact Work Group and the Washington-Hyogo Friendship Council. A former member of the Washington State Historical Society Board of Trustees and Nature Conservancy of Washington Board of Directors, Sam volunteers with the National Institute for Civil Discourse, working to promote and improve civility among members of state legislatures.
Sam is the Past Chair of the Council of State Governments West and Immediate Past National Chair of the Council of State Governments, where he works to foster collaboration between elected and appointed officials across the U.S. and assist legislators on connecting on shared issues as well as leadership development, especially for new legislators.
A graduate of Washington State University, Sam was a schoolteacher in Pasco (where he also served as a city council member and mayor pro tempore) and Montesano. He also worked for the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, served as staff director for the Washington Senate Majority Leader, was education advisor to Governor Booth Gardner, and served as legislative director at the Department of Information Services. He is a former member of the North Thurston Public Schools board of directors.
Sam is a longtime resident of Olympia, and his two children and their families live in Olympia.