Lynn Kessler

Washington state House Democrats chose their committee chairs at a meeting in Olympia today, assigning leadership for twenty-five different committees.

"We have a terrific team of chairs," said Majority Leader Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam).  "They are experienced and excited, and ready to take on the challenges of the upcoming session."

Notably, the race for the powerful appropriations committee chair, which was well documented this fall between rival Representatives Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham) and Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish), went to Linville. Dunshee, who had been vice chair, was given the helm of the capital budget committee.

The appropriations committee was then re-named and is now called "ways and means."

See the full list as presented by the House Democrats below.

The Washington state House Democratic Caucus opted to retain its leadership today, affirming six key roles.

Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) will return to his role as the speaker of the House, Rep. Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam) will remain majority leader, Rep. Bill Grant (D-Walla Walla) will be caucus chair, Rep. Jeff Morris (D-Mount Vernon) will be speaker pro-tem, Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-Seattle) remains the majority whip postion, and Rep. Jim Moeller (D-Vancouver) is the deputy speaker pro-tem.

The Democratic leadership highlighted the geographic diversity of their members, touching on the Democrats' One Washington theme.

To find out some of the top contributors to state legislative races, look no further than the halls of the statehouse. Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald has compiled a list of the top contributors to their respective state caucus committees, including the House and Senate Democratic and Republican Campaign Committees.

Mulick reports that sixteen state legislators have given more than $50,000 from their own campaign war chests to caucus committees for a total resulting in more than $1 million. That money can then be spent on battleground races.

The top five are state Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) $120,000, state Rep. Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam) $85,000, state Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) $83,000, state Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) $80,000 and
state Sen. Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) $80,000. For the full list see Mulick's article here.

State Rep. Kevin Van De WegeA number of Democratic state Representatives posted a letter on Monday speaking out against the city's recent ordinance to ban guns from city property. Recently Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels issued an executive order calling for Seattle "to adopt and enforce policies, rules, and contractual agreements that, consistent with state law, prohibit the possession of dangerous weapons, including firearms, on City property."

The group, led by state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim), argues that a city cannot override a law as important as the Constitution's 2nd Amendment.