Luke Esser (born August 26, 1961) is an American attorney, journalist, and politician who served as the chairman of the

Washington State Republican Party The Washington State Republican Party is the U.S. state, state affiliate of the national Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue. History Campaigns and elections Washin ...

from 2007 to 2011. He was elected on January 27, 2007, when he defeated incumbent chairwoman

Diane Tebelius Diane E. Tebelius (born 1948) is an American attorney and former federal prosecutor, Tebelius was the chair of the Washington State Republican Party from 2006 to 2007. In 2004, she ran in the Republican primary for election to Washington's 8th con ...

, was re-elected in 2009, but lost to

Kirby Wilbur Kirby Allen Wilbur (born November 11, 1953) is an American talk radio journalist in Seattle, Washington and a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political activist. He served as the chair of the Washington State Republican Party. Ea ...

in 2011. Esser is a former Republican

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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 ...

, representing the 48th Legislative District. He served as the Majority

floor leader In politics, floor leaders, also known as a caucus leader, are leaders of their respective political party in a body of a legislature. Philippines In the Philippines each body of the bicameral Congress has a majority floor leader and a minor ...

for the Washington State Senate. He was defeated for re-election in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

by Democratic challenger and former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

lawmaker Rodney Tom. In the 2004 Republican primary for the eighth Congressional district of Washington he finished third, behind

and King County Sheriff

Dave Reichert David George Reichert (; born August 29, 1950) is an American politician, veteran, and former sheriff who served as the U.S. representative for Washington's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2019. He is a Republican and is the former ele ...

. Reichert went on to win the general election and served in that seat until he retired in 2019. For much of the 1990s, Esser was a contributing writer to Fantasy Football Index, the nation's oldest and largest circulating fantasy football publication. Esser lives in East

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

and attended St. Louise Parish Catholic Church. He is a graduate of

Interlake High School Interlake High School (IHS) is a public secondary school in Bellevue, Washington, one of the four traditional high schools in the Bellevue School District. Its mascot is a Saint Bernard named Bernie, and the school's sports teams are known as the ...

and three times from the University of Washington: Double majored in Editorial Journalism & Accounting, earned a J.D. degree and an M.B.A. degree.

2008 Caucuses

Esser called the Republican presidential caucus of Washington for John McCain, on February 9, 2008, after 87% of the vote had been counted, and 200 votes separated John McCain from Mike Huckabee. Huckabee had been leading early on as the votes were counted, but after McCain took the lead, Esser published a press release declaring McCain the apparent victor. As the remaining votes were counted, McCain maintained his lead and wo

References

External links

Campaign website

Washington State Republican Party website

Washington State Republican Party leadership biographies
* College Op-Ed written by Luke Esser o
Suppressing Vote for Republican Advantage
UW Daily, Nov. 3, 1986 1961 births Living people Republican Party Washington (state) state senators State political party chairs of Washington (state) Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives {{Washington-politician-stub