Sen. Mike Hewitt stepping down as state Senate GOP leader

Posted by Andrew Garber

Senate Republican leader
Mike Hewitt

State Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, said Friday he plans to step down as the Senate Republican leader.

The announcement comes after news broke on Thursday that Senate Republicans were considering backing conservative Democratic Sen. Rodney Tom as a coalition Senate majority leader.

Hewitt was elected to the Senate in 2000 and became Senate Republican leader in December 2005. The Senate GOP caucus is expected to elect a new Republican leader on Nov. 28.

“This is the right time for me to step back and encourage a new model of leadership in the state Senate. I want to promote new Senate leadership from the center. Focusing on centrist policy rather than party labels is what will make the people of Washington a winner,” Hewitt said in a statement.

He noted that “my health challenges this past year have helped me focus on the important things of life.”

Hewitt had surgery in April at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle to remove a thymoma tumor.

Latest news:

Comments | More in homepage, Politics Northwest, State legislature | Topics: rodney tom, senate republican leader, state sen. mike hewitt

Connect with us

Subscribe |

Email a news tip

About this blog

Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.

How would you balance the state budget and fund education?

Cut spending? Increase taxes? Some of each? Here’s your chance to take a swing at balancing the state budget. We’ve created an interactive budget game that lets you pick from dozens of potential budget cuts and tax increases to balance the budget and find more money for education. Try it now.