Helen Sommers to retire

Rep. Helen Sommers [D-Seattle], having served Seattle in the House for the past 35 years, will not be seeking reelection this fall. Two Democrats had previously filed for the seat on the chance that Sommers would retire, and there will presumably be even more interest now that it has become official. The retirement also means a vacancy for chair of the key House Appropriations Committee.

I always respected Sommers as a pragmatic liberal, and while her pragmatism sometimes clashed with the left wing of her downtown district (take her 2004 primary challenge from Alice Woldt as an example), she should be remembered as one of the region's great legislators alongside John L. O'Brien, Joel Pritchard, and Ray Moore. Have a happy retirement, madame representative.