Bradley Allen Klippert (born June 27, 1957) is an American politician, minister, law enforcement officer, and military officer who formerly served as a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from the

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

Legislative District.

Career

Klippert is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

minister and a sheriff's deputy for the Benton County sheriff's department, serving as a school officer during legislative sessions and a patrol officer at other times. Klippert was a member of the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

in 1987 and retired from the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in May 2016. In August 2016, Klippert was appointed as the commander of the

Washington State Guard ''( en, For State and Country) , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , w ...

, a position that he was directed to retire from in December, 2021. Klippert was elected to the

in 2008 and was re-elected that year and again in 2010. He is currently an Assistant Minority Whip. In January 2021, Klippert proposed legislation (House Bill 1377) that would end voting by mail in Washington state, stating that he has a "reasonable suspicion" that voter fraud using the system is widespread. The bill didn't pass through the House committee by the February deadline. Klippert stated he would continue to attempt to end the state's voting by mail system. In August 2021, Klippert visited South Dakota to attend a symposium organized by MyPillow CEO

Mike Lindell Michael James Lindell (born June 28, 1961), also known as the My Pillow Guy, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing ...

, known for actively promoting false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Klippert and other state Republican lawmakers joined in announcing the creation of an “election integrity caucus” seeking to conduct audits similar to the controversial Arizona audit in all states. He was one of three Washington legislators to attend the event using reimbursed funds from the state legislature's annual travel allotment for events "connected to their legislative work". In November 2021, Klippert and 2 other Washington state Republican lawmakers signed a letter calling the 2020 election "corrupted" and demanded that an audit similar to the Arizona one be conducted in all states. The letter also requested the decertification of state electors from 2020 and falsely claimed that the Arizona audit found evidence of fraud. In order to run for Congress, Klippert could not seek re-election for his legislative seat. Preliminary results from the August 2

non-partisan primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

indicate that Stephanie Barnard and Patrick Guettner, both Republicans, will compete to succeed him in the November general election.

Elections

2004 U.S. Senate election

Klippert ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat of

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

. He lost the primary to

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

George Nethercutt George Rector Nethercutt Jr. (born October 7, 1944) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. Nethercutt is the founder and chairman of The George Nethercutt Foundation. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representative ...

432,748–29,870. Murray was re-elected at the general election.

2006 U.S. Senate election

Klippert ran in the Republican primary against former insurance corporation CEO

Mike McGavick Michael Sean McGavick (born February 7, 1958) is an American business executive and a graduate of the University of Washington. McGavick was the Republican nominee for the US Senate seat held by Maria Cantwell in the 2006 election, but Cantwell ...

for the Senate seat held by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Maria Cantwell Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washington ...

. He came in distant second place, with seven percent of the vote against McGavick's 85 percent. Cantwell went on to win the general election.

2022 U.S. House election

Following Representative

Dan Newhouse Daniel Milton Newhouse (born July 10, 1955) is an American politician and agricultural scientist serving as the U.S. representative for . The district covers much of the central third of the state, including Yakima and the Tri-Cities. Before hi ...

's vote to impeach President Donald Trump, Klippert announced his candidacy to challenge Newhouse in

Washington's 4th congressional district Washington's 4th congressional district encompasses a large area of central Washington, covering the counties of Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, Yakima, Franklin, Benton, and Adams, and part of Walla Walla County. The district is dominated by the Ya ...

. He lost in the primary, placing 5th among a field of 8 candidates.

2024 Washington Superintendent of Public Education

On April 15, 2023, registered with the

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is an agency of the Washington state government that regulates candidates, campaigns and lobbyists. It enforces the state's disclosure and campaign finances laws, and provides public access to ...

a campaign for Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2024.

Awards

* 2014 Guardians of Small Business award. Presented by NFIB. * 2020 Guardians of Small Business. Presented by NFIB.

References

External links

Ballotpedia page

Vote Smart page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klippert, Brad 1957 births 21st-century American politicians American deputy sheriffs American Pentecostals Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Washington National Guard personnel