Jamie Pedersen is a member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 43. He assumed office in 2013. His current term ends on January 11, 2027. Pedersen was born in Puyallup, Washington, and graduated from Puyallup High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in Soviet and East European studies and American studies from Yale College in 1990, spent a year in Russia gathering oral histories of veterans of the Soviet-Afghan war, and then attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1994. After law school, Pedersen clerked for Judge Stephen Williams on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Pedersen was a lawyer at K&L Gates from 1995 to 2012. He joined McKinstry in 2012, where he was executive vice president and general counsel as of 2025. In 2006, Pedersen was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives, representing District 43 from 2007 to 2013. According to The Seattle Times, Pedersen was known before his election to the House "for high-profile legal fights over gay rights, having served as a lawyer on three major state Supreme Court cases for Lambda Legal, the national advocacy group." The King County Council appointed Pedersen to a vacant seat in the Washington State Senate in 2013. In a 2018 voter guide, Pedersen's campaign stated, "As House Judiciary Committee Chair, he led efforts to pass marriage equality, ensure parentage rights for all families, and create social purpose corporations so businesses can put workers and environmental protection before profits.. As Senate Law & Justice Committee Chair, he has championed gun safety, police accountability, abolishing the death penalty, and reforming the criminal justice system."
