James Matthew Kastama (born October 5, 1959) was a Senator in the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

. A

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 ...

, Kastama represented the 25th legislative district. He chaired the Senate Economic Development, Trade and Innovation Committee, and participated on the Higher Education & Workforce Development and Transportation Committees. Represented the 25th Legislative District since 1996 until 2012 Kastama was first elected to the Senate in 2000 after two terms in the House of Representatives.Senator Jim Kastama, Biography Upon graduation from

Puyallup High School Puyallup High School is a high school in the Puyallup School District in Pierce County, Washington, commonly referred to as PHS. History Founded in 1890 as Central High School, the first nine students graduated from the school in 1893. In 1902, ...

in 1978, he

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to Claremont Men's College and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. Currently, Kastama is a part-time faculty member at the community college and university level where he teaches classes in Organizational Assessment, Strategic Planning, and Managing in a Political and Legislative Environment. He is also an examiner for the Washington State Quality Awards. Kastama is best known in state politics for utilizing a rarely used procedural motion called "the 9th Order" to join two Democrats in temporally shifting Senate control to the Republicans to pass a budget by a margin of one vote. The maneuver earned Kastama tremendous animus from within his own party. His refusal to shift control back to the Democrats forced negotiations that eventually resulted in a bipartisan budget with 44-2 votes. In the 2012 election cycle Kastama was a Democratic candidate for Washington Secretary of State but was defeated in the state's August 2012 primary.

Footnotes

References

Senator Jim Kastama, BiographyCampaign WebsiteSen. Bruce DammeierWashington Secretary of State Kim Wyman

External links

Washington State Senate Democrats: Jim Kastama, weekly video update
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kastama, Jim 1959 births Living people Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators Politicians from Puyallup, Washington Politicians from Bellingham, Washington Claremont McKenna College alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives